Escape
by Ivy Tante
Summary: This is In-Game AU! Three young women, trying to escape the violence of their families, run away into the slums of Midgar. But a chance meeting with three SOLDIERs changes everything, and they find themselves at odds with ShinRa as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Will it be with the men they are starting to see as human and not the mindless drones of that evil corporation?
1. Chapter 1: Everything begins

**A/N:** Nope, I'm not dead. I'm still breathing as of this moment. This started as an honest-to-goddess dream that had me going "What the f**k?" when I woke up. And of course, my imagination snatched it up and ran away with it... _**fast**_. I'm using the Zack before he received that cross-like scar on his left jaw. There's just something about those feathery bangs that so compliments his face. And the uniforms colors are from the Crisis Core Era.

 **Story Summary:** This is In-Game FF7/AC Movie AU! (Yep, going for a two-fer this time. Call me ambitious…) Three young women, trying to escape the violence of their families, run away into the slums of Midgar. But a chance meeting with three **SOLDIER** s changes everything, and they find themselves at odds with ShinRa as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Will it be with the men they are starting to see as human and not the mindless puppets of that evil corporation?

 **Chapter Summary:** Enter the **SOLDIER** s, faced with a situation the likes of which they have never dealt with before. ShinRa intends to murder hundreds of innocent people for the mere _possibility_ of killing a few of the terrorist group AVALANCHE by dropping the Sector 7 plate onto the slums. And in the middle of all this chaos, three women finally reach their limit and flee from their abusive homes. Fate has them meeting in this time of upheaval. What will the outcome be?

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 1: Everything begins with the SOLDIERs...**

Deep in the wee hours of the morning, his cell phone rang - _loudly_. The sound echoed off the concrete walls of the barracks, waking nearly everyone in the room as a frantic hand shot out from under a pile of blankets and fumbled across the small shelf build into the wall. Several items crashed from its surface as grunts and irritated curses drifted upon the head of the man who finally got hold of the phone and stopped that aggravating _Chocobo Song_ from the Gold Saucer Racetrack.

"Fair," he croaked into the unit a second time when he realized he was holding it upside down. The only thing that could be seen of him was a few disarrayed spikes of sooty black hair and the tip of an ear.

" _It's Reeve Tuesti, Zack. I'm sorry for this, but I need you, Cloud Strife and Kunsel Moreno in my office_ immediately _,"_ said the Head of Urban Development for the ShinRa Electric Power Company. His voice, usually smooth and rich in tone, sounded tense and harsh, and there was an angry conversation going on behind him echoing through the connection.

It took a moment for the order to sink in properly, as Zack Fair was momentarily distracted trying to identify all the people buzzing in the background. "Reeve, what's going on?! It's only two in the morning." There were several in the barracks that grumbled agreement to this observation, and Zack hissed at them to hold it down as he tried to work his way free of the clinging covers.

" _If we don't find at least one member of AVALANCHE within the next forty-eight hours -and turn them over to Heidegger for trial and a public execution- ShinRa will drop the Sector 7 plate onto the slums to eliminate the threat from the terrorist group they believe is based there,"_ came the grim answer.

Shocked totally awake, Zack sat bolt upright and stared at the phone for just a minute as if waiting for the punch line to the joke. When none came, he brought it back to his ear and promised, "Turn your head and I'll be standing there," as he catapulted out of his bunk.

His bare feet hitting the icy concrete floor had him hopping around, black boxer shorts flapping as he yanked open his disorganized foot locker. One look inside assured him that hunting up all the various pieces of his uniform would take too long, so he grabbed just enough clothing that he wouldn't be arrested for indecent exposure and slammed the lid to the trunk. The two minutes require to stuff himself into pants, shirt and boots seemed to take an eternity.

Snatching up his Buster Sword, he turned to his left to rouse his fellow **SOLDIER** s that had somehow managed to sleep through the entire incident, ringing of the phone included. He woke Kunsel and Cloud by kicking their bunks and snapping out orders just like their former drill sergeant during initial infantry training, who had so instill his brand of discipline in all of them that they were dressed and standing at attention despite being mostly still asleep.

Shoving weapons into their hands, Zack growled out "Follow me!" and took off at a dead run towards the elevator that gave direct access into the ShinRa tower.

The pair was very confused but didn't press Zack for answers as they staggered after him.

Minutes later, they crashed into Reeve's office to find nearly a dozen **SOLDIER** s in attendance, including the upper echelon of their elite division as well as Lazard Deusericus, the Director of **SOLDIER**. All conversation ground to a halt when Zack busted into the room and took a quick head count before facing Lazard.

Zack's first words were snapped out in a voice gone breathless from the run, "Why aren't the Turks in here with us? They have a better network of spies and informants than we do." Cloud and Kunsel slipped in behind him and found spaces to stand nearby. Neither interrupted even though they wanted desperately to know what was going on.

Lazard nodded to acknowledge their presence and pushed his glasses back into place on his nose. He indicated with a wave of his hand that Reeve was the one to address the problem facing them.

"To answer your question, Zack, the Turks are the ones with the orders to bring down the plate, signed by none other than Tseng Shion himself. Cissnei was so rattled by it she broke the directive for silent running and called to ask if I could authenticate the message, which I did. It came directly from the Turk Headquarters, from Tseng's office, sent from his computer and affixed with his personal codes. Now will everyone please shut up, sit down, and let's get this planned out. If worse comes to worst, we may have to take out the main generator here at the ShinRa tower to at least delay them while that area of the slums is evacuated," Reeve started, only to be interrupted by Zack.

"I would like to volunteer myself, Cloud and Kunsel to deal with that if it becomes necessary, Reeve. All three of us have a few scores to settle with ShinRa in general and Hojo in particular. We'll see the job is done," Zack promised.

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room contemplated the request. Lazard glanced at first Reeve then at General Sephiroth, both of whom nodded in agreement. "Strife in particular would be a good choice, since he has kept in contact with many of his former comrades within the ranks of infantrymen. Although not an eloquent speaker, his earnest demeanor could convince the troopers to stand down without forcing the issue," was Sephiroth's conclusion.

Quietly Lazard added, "As long as you understand the ramifications of such actions. There will be considerable pursuit for only three **SOLDIER** s to handle, as the main power coupling for the generator is heavily guarded at all times. ShinRa is very aware of the weakness it represents."

Though he didn't yet know the full story behind this clandestine meeting, Cloud leaned forward and said, "We will prevail."

Since he knew of the circumstances behind Cloud's unauthorized enhancement, Lazard had little reason to doubt his sincerity. "Very well. Now, let's get started." And he motioned to the extra chairs scattered about Reeve's office in invitation for everyone to sit down and try to save some lives from ShinRa's callous disregard for any innocents that happened to be caught in the cross hairs…

 **And introducing the first of the women...**

"Damn stupid little bitch," growled the man, backhanding his daughter sitting at the kitchen table with him. The blow knocked Tifa Lockhart out of her chair and onto the floor, narrowly missing the edge of the counter as she went down. "I told you not to touch a thing in this damn house without my permission!" Benjamin added a hard kick to her side as she lay curled in pain on the freshly scrubbed tiles. "Now get out of my sight before I beat some proper respect into you!"

Tifa climbed to her feet as quickly as possible, arms wrapped around her middle from the agony in her ribs. As fast as she moved, her father still smashed a fist into the middle of her back as she ran out the door of the kitchen and into the living room. The force knocked her into the couch, and she whimpered as the impact with the wooden frame bruised her further. At the sound of his footsteps approaching, she catapulted herself up to flee down the short hallway and into her room, leaving a faint trail of blood drops on the floor and a gory fingerprint smear on the doorjamb in her wake.

What crime had earned her such violent punishment? Well, she had dared to clean the house while her father was gone for the day. It had taken hours to scrub the filth from floors and walls, countless hauls to dispose of trash. Tifa had naively believed it would please her father to come home to a clean dwelling after his fruitless search for a job. And her reward for the toil was bruises, cuts, scratches and scrapes, with possibly broken or cracked ribs.

"No more," she swore to herself as she stared into the mirror and watched the blood drip from her nose and split lip. It was past time she started acknowledging her abilities and utilize them to protect herself; although her father was a former ShinRa infantryman, she could easily counter all the slaps and punches if she really wanted. Tifa was a martial artist, trained by none other than Master Zangan himself. Only her love for what her father had once been kept her from retaliating against the abuse.

Now filled with resolve, she cleaned her face and bandaged her cuts, rubbed witch hazel on the bruises and reluctantly taped her ribs because every breath or move hurt. Then she started packing, carefully tucking anything she considered vital into the heavy-duty backpack she had once borrowed from her father in better times, before her mother's death and the drugs that helped him deal with the grief changed him so drastically.

The slam of the front door jarred her nerves badly enough that she dropped the pack and had to reorganize it all over again. Walking to the doorway, Tifa stood listening for a long moment before deciding it was safe - there was no sound of the angry muttering her father tended to make whenever she did something to infuriate him. Leaning her head wearily against the door, she tried to work up her courage before taking the last step towards freedom.

Tifa knew her father searched her room regularly and thoroughly to be sure she wasn't holding out any of her tip money on him, particularly when his drugs were running low. So she had hidden her most important items in the one place he wouldn't think to look - in his own space. Knowing she had to take the risk, Tifa tiptoed out of her room and crossed the hall, then darted into her father's bedroom. Diving under the bed, she used her fingernails to pry up the loose floorboard and stabbed her hand into the space below.

A minute later she was out again, one hand filled with the gil she had managed to save from her part-time waitress job, the other clutched around a materia her father would have killed to own. A mastered _All_ materia - she had found it secreted in a hidden compartment in her room when they moved into the ratty house months earlier. The soft blue light from the globe shimmered through her fingers as she stuffed it anxiously into the very bottom of the backpack.

Tifa's final stop was the kitchen, where she packed all the non-perishable food she could fit and topped it off with whatever medical supplies came to hand. At last, she pulled on the long black gloves her mother had made her shortly before her death, strapped on the elbow guards and her red fingerless fighting gloves. Then she was out the back door, fleeing into the night that was surely safer than the abusive home she left behind.

As frightened as she was of what might lurk in the slums of Midgar, she preferred it to the violence of her father…

 **And even as one flees…**

 _No more_ , Aerith Gainsborough swore mentally, snatching at one of the wooden posts that had been kicked loose from the stair railing months ago during one of his rampages. It broke free just as she twirled around to face her opponent. Before her stepfather could put his hands on her again, she brought it down with all her strength on his head, finally pushed to the point she didn't care if the blow killed him or not. Unfortunately, the dry-rotted wood splintered into fragments on his hard skull. Fortunately for Duncan, it _did_ knock him unconscious.

Aerith stood poised over him, panting from her efforts to break his grip while trying to come to terms with what she had just done. It was the first time she had consciously fought back against him instead of attempting to evade his clutching hands and escape to her room with its triple set of locks. The desire to beat him bloody as he lay helpless rose to the surface momentarily as she glared down at him. However, even the thought of causing such pain made her nauseous. It would be far better to flee this awful place, and now she had the opportunity to run.

But she knew she had better get a move on it, because he wouldn't be out for long.

Tossing away the unless piece of shattered wood, Aerith ran straight to the storage closet off the kitchen, grabbed one of the packs conveniently shoved into a back corner, and threw every bit of supplies into it she could cram. When it was full, she snatched up another and bolted upstairs, careening into her room and feverishly packing clothes, toiletries, shoes; anything she might need. One last dash into her parent's room netted their savings, several pieces of fairly good jewelry and two materia she never knew were there - _Poison_ and _Lightning_.

Forcing herself to stop long enough to think the situation through, Aerith entered the attached bath and searched the medicine cabinet, finding a well-stocked first aid kit as well as a collection of bandages, swabs and antiseptic. Funny, her mother never offered Aerith any of these supplies whenever Duncan banged and bruised her up. It reminded her to treat her wounds from the latest wrestling match with her nemesis; both wrists were already streaked yellow and purple from his ham hands, as well as her left hip while she had struggled to break his hold on her. It wasn't the first time he had tried to rape her, but by _Shiva_ , it would be the last.

She patched herself up as best she could then bolted back downstairs. Luckily her adversary was still unconscious. If he came around before she was finished gathering her things, she had a frying pan with his name on it _this_ time, no matter how much the violence might turn her stomach.

For just a brief moment as she stared down at the unconscious man, she thought about writing her mother a note telling her why she was leaving. But her heart hardened as she remembered all the times her mother had turned away from her suffering. Misha Gainsborough knew what her daughter dealt with on an almost daily basis, and did nothing about it because if he didn't have Aerith to beat or attack anymore, he would probably turn the violence on her.

 _I'll think of it as poetic justice_ , her daughter reasoned.

Zipping up her bags, she fashioned straps onto the heaviest and improvised it into a backpack so the load would be easier to carry. Taking one last look around at the home she knew she wouldn't miss, Aerith grabbed the ancient staff that had belonged to her ever-so-great-grandfather from its place of _honor_ -and she used the term very sarcastically- behind the pantry door. Since she now had materia to add into its slots, it would make a formidable weapon even in her unskilled hands. In fact, those two materia had probably come from this staff originally, she realized.

Peering out cautiously in case a neighbor was snooping around -for her stepfather had convinced those living around them that she was wild and undisciplined so they would report anything they saw her doing to him- she disappeared out the back door into the dark of the night. She vowed never to return to this unhappy house that had fueled her nightmares for years.

No matter _what_ it took to survive…

 **And later, once true night had fallen…**

Watching the clock was hard on the nerves. But Starr Sapphire knew if she didn't time her escape just right, there wouldn't be another opportunity to win free of the hell she lived before it became unimaginably worse.

Orphaned at birth, Starr Sapphire had been passed from one indifferent pair of hands to another all her life. No one particularly cared if she was properly fed or cared for as long as she stayed quiet and caused no problems. The years had been long and friendless up until now.

But her foster parents had finally made a mistake. By acting totally cowed and terrified, they thought her spirit broken and began relaxing their guard to the point they weren't as vigilant about keeping her locked up. Slipping out of her room the other night, she had eavesdropped on their conversation and heard them talking about their plans. Despite the abuse and neglect, Starr had turned a beautiful and shapely nineteen slightly over a week ago. There was mention of the Honey Bee Inn, and Don Corneo in Sector 6. As she was no innocent, she understood what a brothel was and how a woman was expected to survive there. _Not in this lifetime,_ she had sworn as she stood there in the dark, shaking with rage.

Therefore, for the past week she had squirreled away whatever supplies she could lay hands on. Those provisions were now hidden underneath her bed, and she felt no shame about stealing them from her so-called guardians. The route out of the neighborhood was mapped in exacting detail, with every possible contingency accounted for. Now, if her feckless wardens would just _leave_ for their night out as planned, she could wave goodbye to the greedy cockroaches and depart this hell.

Right on time a fist pounded on her door, and a cruel and mocking voice sounded. "Leave that room, little slut, and you'll not eat for a week, you hear me?" A sharp rap vibrated the door in its frame. "And I've got people watching the place, so don't get no ideas, either." Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and the front door slammed a moment later.

Starr stood still and quiet for a half hour to make sure they were really gone, then picked the lock on her door and slid out. Avoiding the window at the end of the hall, she went to work on the lock for their office. One quick foray inside gained her more riches than she expected; enough gil to last a month on the run, a first aid kit found largely by accident, and three materia those idiots didn't have the intelligence to even use; _Restore_ , _Ice_ and even a summon - _Choco/Mog_. They were hidden away in a small black box with a piece of old, yellowed paper covered with symbols Starr couldn't understand. Shrugging, she stuffed the box into a backpack and darted for the kitchen.

The darkness made it more difficult to pick the lock and her hands were starting to get sweaty in anxiety, but she knew she couldn't risk cutting on the overhead lights. Forcing herself to calm down, she carefully finessed the improvised tools until a satisfying click sounded. Then she slipped out the back door and sprinted into the darkness. As soon as she was cloaked in the shadows, she stopped and listened again. There was no sound, no outcry.

Knowing she now had enough gil to purchase a weapon of some sort was a relief. A shop nearby would sell such items to anyone regardless of age or gender. Unskilled or not, the weapon would make sure she could protect herself and her supplies. And if she could find something with slots, the materia would sure come in handy.

There might be danger concealed in the shadows of the slums, but for the first time in her life she was free to make her own decisions and she would never willingly allow another to have such control over her again. Her thoughts as she disappeared into the shadows were a challenge to all that prowled there; _bring it on._

 **Deep in the heart of the ShinRa building...**

 **SOLDIER** had failed to produce the sacrificial lamb of an AVALANCHE member within the forty-eight hour deadline. Or rather, the group refused to turn over the two that had willingly given themselves up in the hopes of stopping the insanity when they somehow learned of the insidious plan. Reeve had confirmed the orders to destroy the pillar supporting the plate were to be carried out even _if_ someone from the terrorist group was apprehended and executed.

They weren't about to sacrifice two lives for no reason, so Lazard let them go and called Fair to report that repeated attempts to contact the Turks for more information were thwarted because every single agent, by order of Tseng, was running silent. Cissnei might have broken that directive to confirm the authenticity of the orders, but there had been no word from her since Reeve's verification.

Disconnecting, Zack turned to look at the two men behind him and said quietly, "It's time." Knowing exactly what he was talking about, they both nodded.

After checking supplies, weapons and materia, Zack, Kunsel and Cloud headed out to give everyone time to evacuate as many as they could. All three cut off their cell phones as they approached the reactor; there were so many texts zipping between the members of their division that the vibrations from the units were too distracting - and noticeable.

Reaching the correct area was the easy part. There was no reason for anyone to question three **SOLDIER** s for being in this part of the tower; the elite warriors of ShinRa were often asked to inspect the infrastructure of the building, and the half-helmets they so despised worked wonders in hiding their identities. So they simply strolled inside and headed down into the core.

Once they arrived, Kunsel went right to work as he was by far the most skilled when it came to computers, while Zack and Cloud guarded the small catwalk leading to the main power coupling for the generator that ran nearly the entire ShinRa complex. Trying to keep the strain from showing, the two joked around, casually leaning against the railing as if they had not a care in the world, and were bored performing a duty foisted off on them by another member of **SOLDIER**.

But even though Kunsel deactivated the alarm system first, he must have missed something because all of a sudden infantrymen were coming out of the steel-paneled walls. There wasn't even time to grab for swords as bullets perforated the air around them. Zack's startled shout echoed through the cavernous space, allowing Kunsel time to crouch down so he would remain unseen as he worked.

Ducking amid the rapid gunfire, Cloud hurled an _Ice_ attack that turned the closest troopers into popsicles even as Zack yanked the Buster Sword from the magnetic stud on his back, stepping forward to parry the attack of a captain bearing the **SOLDIER** sword Cloud had given him when his own Fusion Sword was forged. It was with a heavy heart that he kicked the man off the narrow bridge and into the troopers massed uncomfortably near their position.

In the respite as the infantrymen grabbed the captain and their frozen comrades and dragged them to safety, Cloud flexed his left arm and shook the numbness out of his fingers. He hadn't held back anything with the magical attack and the feedback had caught his left hand a bit. "You didn't hurt him badly with that kick, did you?" he asked quietly, speaking of the captain of the infantrymen.

"No, it was only enough to get him out of the way of your casting of _Ice_. Why do I feel like Han Solo attacking the Death Star?" Zack muttered crossly, casting _Wall_ to protect them from the hail of flying bullets the troopers were using to cover the retreat of the medics. Not even their massive swords could counter all the ammunition being fired at them.

"He uses a blaster," Cloud shot back as he let loose with another _Ice_ attack. "And I'm not standing in for Chewbacca!" Though he spoke lightly, there was no humor in either his tone or expression, and the too-blue glowing eyes were grim.

Behind them Kunsel worked feverishly to get past the remaining safeguards in the system. Frying the circuits would be far safer than simply blowing the column to _Hades_ , as fewer lives would be risked if he could feed the virus Reeve had provided into the network. "Getting closer!" he assured them in a hurried tone.

Zack paused just long enough to confirm his suspicions as his sensitive hearing picked up fragments of a frantic radio transmission. "That's the call for reinforcements, Cloud! Tell Kunsel he's got exactly one minute then we're bailing." So saying, he stepped forward and hurled one of those _Bolt3_ attacks even other **SOLDIER** s had the sense to fear. Troopers screamed and jumped away in every direction, desperate to evade the incredibly powerful ark of electricity hot enough to melt some of the decking beneath their feet. Eye-searing mist from the evaporated metal suddenly made hitting the swiftly moving targets impossible and the captain yelled for a full retreat, unwilling to sacrifice his men under such hazardous conditions.

This was a massive relief to the two defending the catwalk. So far, the only injuries were the freeze-dried infantrymen that would be weak but okay once the spell wore off, and the kicked captain, who would be wearing Zack's boot print on his butt for a few days. Thumbing off the top of a potion, Zack swallowed the disgusting concoction and tossed the bottle into one of the many holes in the plating of the deck. "KUNSEL!" he shouted, motioning sharply for him to get a move on it.

"Keep your pants on, Han!" was the testy reply. "I've still got seventeen seconds left of that stingy minute you granted me." His fingers were a blur as he worked the manual keyboard jury-rigged into the console. "And down the rabbit hole we go," Kunsel muttered as he finally wormed his way into the system. Inserting a flash drive into the port, he hit a series of keystrokes that uploaded the virus designed to take out every network connected with the mainframe. Suddenly the lights all over the coupling started flashing wildly out of synch, and the acrid stench of charred plastic-coated wiring was added to the miasma in the air. "Mission complete. And for the record, Cloud looks more chocobo than Wookie." Running around the column, he grinned and added, "But I _would_ make a dashing Luke Skywalker, if I do say so myself." The merriment in his voice did not reach his eyes as he checked both his companions for wounds and found them uninjured.

For now, at least.

A deep toned hum steadily decreasing in pitch warned of the system's imminent failure. "Kunsel, take the lead! I'll bring up the rear - move it, move it, move it!" Zack knew it was a race against time now. If they were fast enough, they could get out without having to face any more of the infantry. Killing men that had once been colleagues wasn't easy, and he was willing to go out of his way to avoid conflicts at this point. Thank the Goddess the captain had sounded the retreat.

Corridor lights were flickering from normal power to back-up as they raced down the levels, heading for the emergency exit that would take them out of the area quickly. Overhead the intercom blasted warnings of power and equipment failure until the audio system itself fell victim to the virus as well.

They were nearly to the stairs when that captain stepped out in front of them. The blade wielded against Zack earlier was now sheathed on his back and his hands were empty. "Stop," he said in an implacable tone, his handsome face set and determined.

"Bailey, this isn't the time," Cloud started as he removed his helmet, hoping he would listen since the infantryman had been a friend long before he became **SOLDIER** against his will.

"Just tell me why you're doing this," Bailey barked. "I pulled my men back instead of attacking, wanting the chance to talk when I realized who was on the catwalk. I would have done that sooner but you're wearing those confounded helmets and I didn't recognize you right off until the swords came out. I know _you_ , Strife. You wouldn't do this without cause, so trust me with the reason."

Because he could see Bailey was sincere, Cloud answered truthfully, "ShinRa has ordered the Turks to drop the Sector 7 Plate onto the slums in the hopes of crushing the terrorist group now calling themselves AVALANCHE. By taking out the main coupling, we're trying to delay them long enough to evacuate the slums while others work to clear the upper Plate."

All of them could see the captain struggling to come to terms with such madness. The exotically slanted dark brown eyes were snapping in frustration as he considered the best ways to assist them. "The three of you alone can't hope to warn everyone in time and make it out yourselves," he finally said, his jaw clenched tightly in rage.

"We're going to do what we can and hope for the best," Zack replied as his right hand rose to encircle his sword hilt. "But we really need to get out of here _now_ , and you're blocking the way. Either move or we'll have to act." Too many lives were at stake to continue stalling. ShinRa had plenty of engineers capable of bypassing the main conduit and restoring power; all the **SOLDIER** s could gain from this desperate gamble was time. And Zack could literally feel it slipping right through his fingers as they stood there arguing.

But Bailey took a deep breath and ordered, "Then give me a rendezvous point, dammit. My company isn't large, only four dozen, but that's a lot more feet to run around with the warning to get out."

"They might not make it out, either," Cloud told him as he strapped his helmet back on.

"That's their choice. But my oath is to protect and serve the people of this _city_ , not fucking ShinRa. So get going. Where do we meet up?" Bailey was already halfway down the hall by that time, black curls fluttering wildly in his wake.

Zack had to shout after him, "We're starting just past Sector 6, so begin in Sector 8 and we'll meet in the middle!" Yanking open the door to the stairwell, he felt hope swelling inside him for the first time in days. Even within ShinRa, there was still decency to be found. Perhaps they would accomplish the mission after all...

 **In the Sector 5 slums of Midgar...**

Tightening her grip on the sword she now carried, Starr peered into the shadows and waited for whoever was following her to show themselves. It had been two harrowing days since she ran away from her foster home and exhaustion threatened with every step. There was almost no way to sleep safely here in the ruins beneath the plates, and the boundless energy that normally sustained her was flagging. _It can't end this way,_ she pleaded to whatever gods might be listening.

Then a shadow reluctantly detached itself from the darker mass of piled debris and stepped into the center of the path. To Starr's surprise it was a young woman somewhere around her own age, with long dark brown hair and spooked eyes. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder and another gripped in her fist, both of which bugled. Something in the red-wine eyes, bruised cheek and split lip caused Starr to lean forward slightly and gesture towards her.

"There's a junction in these pipes about ten feet back. We can both fit in," Starr offered hesitantly. She wasn't sure why she instinctively wanted this woman's company, but something about her manner and injuries struck a chord within. This stranger understood abuse; it showed in the wariness of her posture and expression that her wounds weren't the first she had ever received.

The woman started, not having seen Starr where she crouched inside a large ventilation pipe. "I'm not alone," she warned, motioning behind her.

Another female stepped out, cloaked in that same chary caution as the first and just as injured; both wrists were encircled with deep, purpling bruises and she had a slight limp on the left side. The pink dress she wore looked almost garish in the dismal lighting, but the green eyes looked directly into Starr's without hesitation.

"My name is Tifa Lockhart, and this is Aerith Gainsborough. We met up last night and stood watch for each other during the night. We'll do the same for you, if you would like. Do you think we can all fit if we squeeze in?" Her eyes were hopeful.

Something inside warned against trusting them, but Starr had already spent a lifetime without any friends because of her so-called guardians. These two obviously had necessary supplies so wouldn't be after hers, and both possessed weapons: Aerith a staff and Tifa her fighting gloves, both of which carried the unmistakable glow of materia. So she scooted back and waved them in, "It will be tight, but we can manage. It sure would be nice to sleep knowing someone else is close by."

The two strangers agreed heartily with this and climbed into the pipe. Maybe she was making a mistake, but Starr was grateful for the company and the chance to exchange stories. It took some wiggling and a few giggles, but from the four-way junction each section of pipe was long enough for them to lie down in separate cylinders, and just high enough they could sit cross-legged without hitting their heads. It wouldn't be suitable for the long run because there was only one exit, but for getting some sleep it was fine for the moment.

After camouflaging the entrance with bits of debris again, Starr settled down on her blankets and yawned. The small moonstone she had bought along with the sword glimmered faintly in the dark, casting just enough light that they could see one another. The three took a moment to size each other up, and Starr had to admit neither of them felt threatening. She brushed blue-black hair out of electric blue eyes and said simply, "Well, here we are."

Tifa spoke up with a smile, saying, "We both got some sleep last night, so why don't you rest while we try and put some food together? It's all pre-packaged, but I know how to make it taste a little better by adding some stuff in."

"That sounds like a plan to me. My name is Starr Sapphire, by the way. I used to live in Sector 7, but ran away after I heard my foster parents talking about the Honey Bee Inn and that slimeball, Don Corneo." Intent on trying to fluff her makeshift pillow into decent shape, Starr didn't see the looks that passed between Tifa and Aerith.

"You... do know what that is, right?" Aerith finally asked, pulling her own pillow out of her pack and offering it to Starr.

"What, a brothel? Yeah, I know. That's why I ran. My foster parents were discussing how much money they would make by selling me to the Don, and talking about his odd... appetites." Starr sighed just before collapsing belly-down onto her blankets, plopping right into the soft cushion given to her by Aerith. She looked quite comical with her face buried in the pillow, her feet sticking straight up in the air and wiggling with pleasure. "Ah, the real thing. My bag full of rags just can't compete. I didn't want a pillow to take up so much room in my pack and thought I could make do with a substitute. What a fool I am!"

Tifa had to laugh, "Careful or you'll suffocate yourself. Do you have any objection over noodles flavored with beef curry?"

Her head popped up, electric blue eyes wide in surprise, "Noodles actually have _flavor_?" Levering herself up, Starr leaned over Tifa's pack and asked, "Where do you keep the magic wand? That's the only way I know how to make them taste like something other than flat mush."

Chuckling, Aerith stuffed her packs toward the back of her section of pipe after pulling out her bedroll and grinned, "Tifa has a way with food that really _is_ magical. But go on and get some sleep first. We'll talk more after you've rested." It was going to take some serious acrobatics to lay the tarp and blankets out in the confined space, but Aerith felt up to the challenge in spite of her bruised hip.

Tifa kept pulling out little packages of herbs and spices, laying some down beside her and shoving others back in. "Really, it's okay to rest. We'll keep the noise down to a dull roar." When Starr hesitated again, Tifa laughed softly and patted the outstretched hand, "You're obviously the more experienced one here, since you found this great hideout. We would be fools to abandon you and I've _had_ it with just surviving in this miserable place." Tifa grinned and added, "Besides, with the way you've fallen in love with that pillow, Aerith has to stay if she hopes to get it back."

Starr wondered if this was what it was like to have sisters. Lying back down, head cushioned on a real honest-to-the-goddess pillow, she drifted off grinning. Maybe, just maybe... she had made the right decision after all.

 **Near Sector 6 of the slums...**

There was so much death and destruction surrounding him that Zack felt sick to his stomach. The very air itself was an additional hazard to breathe amid all the smoking debris and broken structures littering the landscape. Behind him, stumbling more from shock than injuries, Kunsel and Cloud tried valiantly to keep their balance in the nightmarish scene with a small body thrown over each of their shoulders. Zack was carrying the children's mother in the firefighters' hold, using one hand to steady her while the other carved a path through the wreckage with the Buster Sword.

It was so hard to believe ShinRa had really dropped the Sector 7 Plate onto the slums. And it was even harder to come to terms with the fact the Turks were the ones that implemented it by setting off the self-destruct on the pillar supporting the upper structure. Having known Tseng, Cissnei and several others of that organization for years, Zack had thought they would finally balk over the decision to kill so many just for the mere _possibility_ of disposing of a few. Yet it had been done, even after the three **SOLDIER** s destroyed the main generator at Headquarters. That heroic act had only delayed ShinRa's actions for barely a day before their plan was brought to fruition.

And here he and his friends were, slogging through the rubble caused by ShinRa's determination to dominate all by fear and force. Cloud had been right about that aspect of the corrupt corporation, Zack admitted bleakly as he muscled a broken column out of their way and unwittingly uncovered the body of... It took a moment to identify the mangled remains as yet another infantryman. It was the fourth one he had found so far and his stomach clenched. The troopers had taken heavy losses while trying to help the three renegade **SOLDIER** s evacuate the slums. He sent up a mental prayer for the safety of their brave captain and his remaining men, and continued to fight his way through.

 _They will pay for this,_ Zack Fair swore as he and the others finally reached the emergency center to turn their burdens over to the exhausted medical technicians. Casualties were far lighter than expected due to the efforts of the elite warriors to protect all they could from ShinRa's callous disregard for life. He could only hope the others dispatched by Director Lazard were as successful in their attempts to get people off the upper plate; none of them had heard _anything_ from the other **SOLDIER** s since they had cut their cell phones back on, and the silence of their comrades was ominous. Their group was almost notoriously self-sustaining, but it was unusual that in such a desperate situation there hadn't been any communications at all.

Zack's plan was to leave the minute the woman and her children were in safe hands, but he was forced to delay their departure because of Kunsel's grief. One of the kids he carried hadn't survived. So as he sat there, holding his friend's hand and watching Kunsel struggle to get hold of himself, Zack knew in his heart he was through with ShinRa. Whatever was to come, he would be against the power company for the rest of his days.

Cloud caught his look and nodded grimly; for all that he was **SOLDIER** now, it hadn't been his choice. He had never trusted ShinRa to begin with, and Zack wished that he had heeded Cloud's advice years ago. Rubbing a hand on Kunsel's shoulder, Zack asked quietly, "Anyone else want a bit of revenge?"

That got their attention. "What did you have in mind?" Kunsel wondered, taking in a deep breath in hopes of calming his riotous stomach. What little food he had managed to eat earlier had come up when he realized the child he had toted nearly the length of Sector 6 had probably died minutes after being snatched up. It was a grim reminder that no matter your strength or skill, you couldn't save all the innocents.

"Taking Reactor 5 off-line?" Cloud guessed quietly. At Zack's surprised look, Cloud smiled grimly. "It powers the ShinRa tower exclusively and wouldn't affect any of the Sectors, above or below the plates. If successful, we would knock out everything in the tower, even their communications, on a far more permanent level than taking out the power coupling. The only problem would be getting in; it requires codes and keycards, as well as retina scans." He took another gulp of water as he watched Zack rapidly consider the alternative ways of infiltrating the compound housing the reactor. Cloud had a few ideas himself on how to go about it, but he didn't know the system as well as the others.

A hoarse voice growled out, "If you need the retina scan, you have it right here."

All three whirled around to confront a dust-coated figure bent nearly double with exhaustion. Bailey was barely recognizable. His once black hair was white with powdered concrete, his dark brown eyes the only spots of color in his gray face. Most of his uniform was gone, replaced by whatever the rescue workers could provide. With one arm in a sling and a line of staples marching down the right side of his neck, he looked more dead than alive.

Jumping up, Kunsel hastily vacated his seat so they could attend to Bailey.

"Goddess, Grant! What happened?!" Cloud demanded as he snatched up a cloth and used what water remained in his bottle to dampen it, trying to wash what he could of the pulverized concrete off the captain's face. It was shocking to see the man so fatigued he had to lean against Zack just to stay upright in the chair.

Kunsel made the mistake of trying to comb the matted hair. Dust swirled so thickly that Bailey inadvertently inhaled some and reacted violently; the coughing fit nearly knocked him out of the chair. His eyes were too dry to tear up as he wheezed out, "A building collapsed just as we were reaching this Sector. I lost two of my men to flying shrapnel, and had to dig out four more that were buried. I didn't even realize my arm was broken until I couldn't move it anymore. Then the rubble shifted and damn near swallowed me whole. I thought I was a goner when that shard slashed the side of my neck, but rescue workers jumped in at that point and managed to stop the bleeding, then pulled me free." Grant's arm and neck had been scrubbed clean during treatment, but no one had bothered with the rest of him. There were just too many injured to worry about a little dust and grit.

"You can't go in, Grant. This could well be a suicide mission and you're in bad enough shape as it is. But one way or the other, ShinRa is going down," Zack warned as he handed over another bottle of water. He eyed the captain and wondered if a shot of _Cure_ would do any good.

Kunsel seemed to know what he was thinking because he shook his head. It might help the broken arm and repair the slashed neck a bit, but blood loss and extreme fatigue could only be healed by time, not magic. And truthfully, he wasn't sure any of them had the strength left to activate their materia anyway…

Bailey was too tired to argue as Kunsel unscrewed the cap and held the bottle to his lips so he could drink. "Then you'll have to take the train tunnels to reach the tower, and slip into the ventilation system to get inside. I'll tell you how to get through and give you the codes to open the various panels, but you've got to promise to bail if things get too out of hand. I've lost a lot of good people today; don't make me lose more, okay?"

"I can't promise you that, Grant," Cloud said quietly. "Not with the way ShinRa usually deals with people that interfere with their plans. But we will be as careful as possible." Reaching out, he touched the hand resting in the sling and said, "This is the turning point, Grant. Even if we succeed, I'm not coming back. And I have a feeling Zack and Kunsel feel the same."

Closing his gritty eyes as Zack washed his face again, Bailey sighed and admitted, "I know that, Strife. And I suppose that's the best assurance I'm going to get, so I'll take it." Gesturing with his uninjured hand, he suggested, "One of you get me a pad and pencil so I can start sketching out the ducts before what little energy I have is gone."

"You need more water, and maybe some food," Cloud started as he rose.

And Grant's expression turned cold and remote as he informed his friend, "Don't bother with any food. I can guarantee it will come right back up after all I've seen today." He paused before turning those burning eyes to the man he had called a friend for many years. Considering his words carefully, he said, "I have a feeling you aren't the only one that's done with ShinRa after today. I made it plain to all the people we warned just who was responsible for this catastrophe, and I think it tells the story in and of itself that not a one of them doubted what I was saying. ShinRa might try to cover up all the evil they commit, but it's getting bad enough even the common people aren't fooled anymore."

Cloud's only response was, "Broth, then. You've got to have some kind of nourishment in you."

And Grant sighed and rolled his eyes as Kunsel and Zack snorted behind their hands. "Yes, mom."


	2. Chapter 2: Deep in Sector 5

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, but my computer crashed, taking with it much of my notes, outlines, plots and schemes. It's taken me a while to find the courage to start over. So this story is much different from the first draft. And I'm finding that I _like_ the changes. Hopefully you will too...

 **Chapter Summary:** Aerith's faint memory leads the women to a sanctuary hidden within the shadows of Sector 5, and it is a welcome gift to them all. So even as the **SOLDIER** s began planning their assault on the Reactor that ShinRa relies upon to keep its high-and-mighty building powered, the women settle in to recover and regroup. But when Zack, Cloud and Kunsel attack the Reactor, things go awry in a hurry. Then the Turks break the catwalk beneath them during their attempt to escape, sending the **SOLDIER** s plummeting into the slums below...

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 2: Entering the Church...**

"I just don't know what to _do_ ," Starr Sapphire muttered helplessly under her breath to Aerith Gainsborough, trying to find a more comfortable position without hitting any of the sharp-edged debris they crouched among. Eying the distraught Tifa Lockhart, she automatically pulled a bandana out of her pocket and handed it over. "As much as I want to, I can't just walk up to any of these infantrymen and ask them what in all _Leviathan_ is going on. A young female obliviously trotting around unaccompanied by an adult during a crisis like this? That's just begging for trouble in the worse possible way."

Wiping her face was an exercise in futility, Tifa knew. It did nothing to stem the tide of tears coursing down her cheeks, turning the tip of her nose cherry red and making her eyes swell. It also did nothing to change the circumstances. "If only I knew one way or the other…" Her throat closed up, choking off the rest of her comment.

Aerith exchanged glances with Starr and tried very, very hard not to speak curtly to her. "Tifa, the man beat you nearly every day for years…" she started in as quiet a tone as she could manage.

Bandana crumpled in her fist, Tifa whirled on her companions and hissed out in a low voice, "Dad was a good man before mom's death and the drugs changed him! He taught me so much, even _after_ things went bad. All I want to know is if he got out of Sector 7 before the Plate fell." Too exhausted to say more, she curled into herself, swaying slightly as she averted her face.

The three sat in uneasy silence, watching as people passed their hiding place completely unaware of their presence in the mountain of garbage hidden in the shadows. They had learned Starr's natural instinct for concealment knew few peers. During her troubled life, her ability to fade into the background to avoid abuse had been her finest accomplishment. It was standing her in good stead now.

For even here in the Sector 5 slums -two divisions away from the disaster- there was more than a hint of smoke in the air. Concrete dust made everything a lighter gray, and every inhale left a metallic taste in the back of the throat. The movements of those around them were furtive and panicked, with eyes darting back and forth warily. Many were burdened with packs and bags, often toting nearly their weight in whatever supplies they could scrounge.

Starr had given up trying to count all the injured.

Nearly twenty meters away, a group of ShinRa infantrymen were standing in an area made narrow and tight by wreckage. Within this bottleneck, they hassled the inhabitants by demanding IDs and asking questions in terse, intimidating voices. Photos were flashed as everyone was asked if they had seen the men pictured. So far all had answered negatively, but a few acted so suspiciously they were taken into custody and marched off. None had returned.

"Can you see the images?" Aerith finally asked in low voice.

"Not yet, no. We're not at the right angle to get a really good look. I've heard snippets of conversation here and there. Something about a group named AVALANCHE destroying the pillar holding up the Sector 7 plate. Can you believe that? I don't, not for a second. ShinRa did this for some reason, though only the Gods know why." Glancing back, she saw yet another person being taken into custody and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a man with black, feathery hair on one of the three pictures being shown. "And we need to get out of here before their search shifts. Any thoughts about where to go?" Starr needed a destination before she could plot a safe path out of the rubbish. "You're from this Sector, right?"

Aerith shook her head, "Not this part of it. It's been years since I was this close to this portion of Sector 6. I don't know of any…" Her voice trailed off as a memory flashed; one of her standing off the path, staring in wonder at sunlit stained glass as she clutched someone's hand, listening to those hushed tones speaking of ghosts and miracles and flowers growing in impossibly contaminated soil. "We used the path that runs straight past the Sector 6 playground, right?"

"Yeah. But we took a little detour to avoid all those walking uniforms before we reached it. I think I can find a way around that area if you have somewhere in mind that would be safer than here." Starr craned her neck to the right, and was rewarded with a brief glimpse of what looked to be a blowup of an ID shot. The image was of a man with pale blonde hair and eyes so intensely blue she could discern their color from nearly twenty meters away.

Biting her lip, wondering if she dared to voice what had always seemed a dream to her, Aerith looked at Tifa and made her decision. "There's this place I can barely remember, an old abandoned church. I don't even know who was pointing it out but the memory has haunted me for years. I'm not sure if it's still standing, or even really exists…"

Starr gave a snort and carefully rose to her knees, "How near?" There was something in the way she eyed Tifa that signaled her concern. The martial artist needed somewhere quiet and peaceful to pull herself together, and the raw emotions filling this section of the slums were nothing but negative - pain, anger, loss, grief, despair.

"It's right at the edge of Sector 5, just before that hole blasted into the wall leading to Sector 4. If you stand on the main path and look towards the wall, there's this broken column of white marble sticking up. If we can find it, you can see part of what was a stained glass window to the right of it." Looking back at the infantrymen, Aerith had a flashing glimpse of both pictures Starr had seen, just before she ducked instinctively as a trooper suddenly swung in their general direction without warning.

Starr also crouched down and knew they had to move or face discovery. "Okay. We'll give it a shot."

Together they disentangled themselves from the debris and crawled to where Tifa huddled, still immersed in her grief. Touching Tifa on the shoulder only caused the woman to curl up tighter.

Aerith was surprised when Starr leaned over and rested her cheek against the crown of Tifa's head, then sighed. "Sweetie, I know I haven't had any experience with loss like you're suffering. I've never had a family. But I do know if we don't get out of here -and soon- those infantrymen are going to spot us at some point and it will be game over." Reaching down gently, she raised Tifa's chin to look into the red-rimmed eyes of deep red wine and said honestly, "I'm scared, Tifa. We've got to leave this place, try to find somewhere to gather our wits and see what options we have. Come with us? Please?"

Mopping at her running nose, Tifa didn't try to speak, she just nodded.

"Good girl," Aerith said softly, and offered a hand to help her stand up. "Starr, head southeast."

 **And in a small apartment above Plate...**

As Grant Bailey lay in an exhausted stupor that emulated sleep on his lumpy and too-short couch, Zack Fair and Cloud Strife studied the blueprints of Reactor 5 that Kunsel Moreno had spread out on the kitchen counter. Written on a pad of paper smeared by dusty fingerprints were the various codes for doors, vents, storage lockers, weapons caches and security checkpoints. One of the infantrymen who had narrowly survived the horrors of Plate-fall was carefully pointing out where the stations were located throughout the structure.

"So this," and Kunsel motioned to an intersection where one of the ducts opened up, "might be the best place to try and sneak in." On paper it looked like their best bet, because it gave them direct access to the corridor with the elevator that lead straight into the core. However...

Though he was only supposed to deliver the blueprints and return to duty, the man had stayed to see if his assistance would be needed otherwise. The fact that the **SOLDIER** s had risked their lives getting their captain to safety meant all in his command would provide whatever information they could to help.

He shook his head negatively at Kunsel's presumption. "No, sir. That's one of the main gathering points in the Reactor. They meet there to change shifts. This," and he pointed out the room right across the hall, "has been turned into a sort of break room/check-in, so there is always someone in there. You'll have to go up one floor, then down again to avoid it."

Grimacing, Zack said what they were all thinking, "That's going to add a lot of time that we probably don't have."

The infantryman understood their frustration but didn't have any other suggestions.

Time was in very short supply. It had taken the three **SOLDIER** s almost twenty-four hours to work their way back onto the Plate with the severely injured captain, and another day before the infantryman arrived with the blueprints Bailey requested. They needed to hit _now_ , while ShinRa was still reeling from their earlier attack. The company was on the defensive, trying to shore up their faltering image as countries all over the world demanded answers about how such a catastrophe could take place in the metropolis. A strike at this time, when the moral of their troops was low and their support network compromised, would magnify any damage meted out.

The four men bent over the map, their regard intense. It was Cloud that tapped a small symbol off to the side in what looked like an out-of-the-way corner near the station. "What is this?" he asked. Though he was familiar with most of the icons on the plans, he didn't recognize what that strange curlicue stood for and wondered why it was so hidden.

Squinting, the infantryman didn't reply right away. Searching the margins of the blueprint, he couldn't find the meaning for the mark and frowned. Pulling out his phone, he ran a quick search and stared at the unfamiliar term that resulted. "Dumb-waiter," he murmured in confusion. "What in all hell is a dumb-waiter?" It was the first flash of his personality they had seen so far and had them grinning at the sudden lack of formality.

"It's a kind of lift," Kunsel supplied quietly. With his vast knowledge of strange places and things, Cloud and Zack weren't very surprised he knew the odd term. "You see it a lot in hotels in the country. It's a shaft that connects with the kitchen. Inside is a platform hooked onto a pulley system, and the cooks put the tray inside and close the door. Whoever is on the upper floor can just pull it up instead of having to lug it up the stairs. But this building has an entire network of elevators, so why is it even there? And what in the world is it connected to?"

"I'm not sure," the infantryman said softly. Looking up, he mentioned quietly as he pointed to a blanked-out section of the reactor, "But Hojo has a lab right there, and that shaft seems to originate from it."

The instant silence that descended seemed to scream through the room. In a stilted voice, Zack said rather hollowly, "It's to get rid of bodies. That thing runs from his lab down through the Reactor and into the reservoir of Lifestream below. It's his own personal damn disposal unit."

The infantryman gave a slight lurch and swallowed hard, as he had seen too much during the aftermath of the plate falling to take such news lightly. Though he tried hard to remain attentive, his gaze wandered to his captain sleeping fitfully on the couch even as he shifted uncomfortable on his feet. The nausea seemed to rear up and smack him as horrific memories flashed, leaving him shaking and clammy. Embarrassed, he braced his suddenly wobbly legs.

Noticing the green tinge creeping into the man's complexion, Cloud smiled grimly and offered a bit of advice, "The bathroom is to the right. And don't _ever_ feel ashamed to have such a reaction - it means you're still human."

"Thanks, sir," the trooper breathed before bolting.

None of the **SOLDIER** s laughed or made any disparaging remarks as the bathroom door slammed shut.

Kunsel was carefully checking the other floors. "Most of them have access to the lift." He pointed out the same obscure symbol on the various blueprints. "This could be it. This could be our best way in - and even out. Once Bailey wakes, we'll have to see if the codes he gave us will get us into this shaft. If they do, we could work our way past every single checkpoint without them even knowing we're there. I can almost guarantee it's shielded against all scans as paranoid as Hojo tends to be."

"And just look at the blueprints, Kunsel. There's a power cable running through the walls, which means the lift is probably remote controlled," Cloud pointed out.

Kunsel's smile was feral, "And if that _is_ the case, I can probably hack into whatever system controls it."

Zack glanced up when the infantryman walked back in, looking pale but otherwise better than before. "I never asked for your name," he prompted quietly as he offered a bottle of water.

The man gave a grim smile as he accepted it, "Temple, sir."

"Well, Temple, sit down and let's have another look. There might be even more surprises on this map."

 **And at the edge of Sector 5...**

Aerith sat back on her heels to survey her work and smiled. It was a happy, contented smile, and she couldn't quite silence the sigh that sounded just as contented and happy.

Sitting there bathed in sunlight, hands unbelievably filthy from literally playing in the dirt, she gazed in wonder yet again at the flowers that surrounded her. White and yellow blooms grew in abundance in soil that was rich and black, totally unlike the contaminated and lifeless gray dust found everywhere else in the slums. The sharp, aromatic scent of green plant life filled her senses and caused her smile to deepen.

"And there she is - yet again. Aerith, do you actually _sleep_ in there? I don't think I've seen you more than a couple meters from those lilies since we arrived." Starr was standing at the edge of the flowerbed where the wooden floor of the church stopped, looking at her friend with puzzled eyes. Oh, she could well understand the fascination of seeing living plants actually growing, but pulling out the weeds that had snuck up around them? That, to her, was taking it a bit too far.

Sticking out her tongue, Aerith went back to her task. In the three days since finding the church, she had over half the bed weeded and did not intend to stop until all the flowers were freed from the encroaching invaders. "You could help, you know. It might keep you out of Tifa's way." That last comment was said slyly, and the green eyes twinkled with humor.

Starr rubbed the back of her hand absently at the comment as she wrinkled her nose over the memory. Tifa was cooking some sort of stew, and Starr's attempt to sneak a taste when her back was turned had resulted in a well-aimed smack with a wooden spoon. "Hey, it smells really good."

"And she's as happy doing that as I am doing this," Aerith stated quietly.

It took some of the luster from Starr's shockingly electric blue eyes. The last few days had been rough for the martial artist, emotionally speaking. "Yeah, I know."

Starr looked over to where they had set up a kitchen of sorts, near the small stream of clean and shockingly cold water that flowed through the old structure. There was Tifa, operating the small camp stove they had discovered packed up with a few other supplies in one of the crumbling cabinets. It was the only thing really useable out of the stash, but it enabled them to eat hot meals and heat water for bathing.

And it didn't use gas canisters, either. Instead, a small and immature _Fire_ materia powered the stove. Tifa thought the design might be for military purposes but the symbol stamped on the side wasn't ShinRa's. They all suspected it was manufactured by a rival company, which meant it was probably secreted in the church _before_ Midgar was even built.

Leaving Aerith to her weed pulling, Starr wandered over to settle down near Tifa, careful to keep out of reach of her spoon. Tifa noticed and grinned at her. "Very prudent." She waved that wooden implement towards her and offered, "Dinner should be ready in ten minutes or so. You might want to warn Aerith, as it will take her twice as long to get all that dirt off her hands."

The flash of humor was a relief. "Feeling better today?" Starr asked quietly.

And Tifa nodded. Giving the stew a good stir, she replaced the lid and lowered the power on the materia to let it simmer a few minutes. Sitting back on her heels, she said, "I know that it's taken a few days, but my head feels clearer now. My father -the one I knew and loved- died years ago, when we lost mom so suddenly. After her death, all that remained of him was this… bitter shell that somehow continued to function because of the drugs. When the beatings started, I never tried to stop him despite my training. Maybe a part of me felt I deserved it for not saving mom somehow." She smiled when Starr would have spoken. "And it wasn't my fault at all. Dad did everything he could to keep me feeling that way; it made controlling me easier. I can see that now. This knowledge makes me wonder how much went on between mom and dad without me noticing. That kind of behavior doesn't just start overnight."

Starr spoke softly, "You were a child, Tifa. You weren't supposed to see what was happening."

Her laugh was just a little strained. "It makes me feel so blind in hindsight. Mom's death was so sudden… and having experienced his need for dominance, I'm left wondering if he might have been a part of it. He just went all to pieces afterwards; drinking, using drugs, bar fights." Tifa pushed the memories aside and gave Starr a smile, telling her, "The two of you have treated me so carefully these past few days, thinking I might shatter if you put too much pressure on me at once. But you don't have to be so cautious now." She took a long, hard look at the ruins of the church around them and assured Starr, "Because I know we're in a dangerous position and our future is very uncertain. We don't have much choice but to take things one day at a time. But the fact I don't have to face yet another night of his abuse gives me hope. For the first time in years I'm starting to feel strong and vital again. Your friendship and support is a large part of that."

For some reason the words made it difficult to swallow, and Starr was surprised to find her eyes moist. "Sorry," she muttered, digging out her bandana. "I'm... not used to sharing like this. It... makes me feel…" Taking a moment to blow her nose, she continued with her words muffled by the cloth, "It just makes me _feel_ , and I'm so used to shutting everything down so I can survive. I know these little aches around my heart mean I'm actually learning to empathize with others, and that's a good thing. But the pain surprises me sometimes."

The smile Tifa gave her only made that ache increase, but it caused such warmth inside her. "You're such a good person, Starr. They tried their best to turn you into some kind of automated robot with no feelings at all, but they couldn't touch who you really are inside."

Aerith chose that moment to appear, hands and face scrubbed clean, sniffing deeply of the fabulous smells coming from the stockpot. That pot was complements of Aerith's canny trading ability and her sweet but wicked smile that easily bamboozled the suspicious old shopkeeper. Starr and Tifa had vowed that Aerith would be their bargainer from henceforth on the spot when she had the crotchety old grump cooperating within minutes of entering his shop.

"Keep your hands off, even if they're finally clean," Tifa warned. "It still needs to cook a few more minutes."

Before Aerith could make a snappy comeback, she suddenly frowned in concern. "Tifa, what have you done to yourself?"

She was referring to the small, oval shaped burn on Tifa's wrist. Looking at it, she made a face and admitted, "The stove shifted a bit and the edge hit my hand. It's nothing, Aerith. It will heal." The words did her no good.

For Aerith already had hold of it and was concentrating, rich green eyes narrowed. Under her hand there was a faint, twinkling glimmer of golden light, and when she let go of Tifa the burn was gone. "There," she said with pride. "Be more careful in the future, okay?"

Rubbing at the spot where the burn had been, Tifa simply looked at Aerith for a long minute before asking quietly, "And you never knew you could do this?"

She sat down next to Starr and sighed. "No, I had no clue. I've tried it on myself but it doesn't seem to work that way, only on others. I don't really know what kind of limits I might have." Aerith looked over at the sunbeam streaming into the church from some unknown chink in the plate above. "I think... it has something to do with this place. This memory that I always doubted was real."

"You think it unlocked something inside?" Starr asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"Or maybe allowed the talent to manifest," Aerith said slowly, trying to puzzle it out in her head. "I know -can sense- that this is a holy place, filled with such power I can feel it humming in my bones. But neither of you can even discern it. What about me is so different, I wonder?"

The other two had no answers for her. Tifa raised the lid on the pot and gave it one more stir, causing fragrant steam to billow forth and make all their mouths water. "There, I think it's ready now." Replacing the lid again, she rubbed her hands together and suggested, "Let's get the bowls rinsed. I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready to eat."

Even as they moved to comply, all hell broke loose above them...

 **Above, in Reactor 5...**

Ducking the barrage of bullets peppering the wall above their heads, Zack and Cloud crouched down to make smaller targets while Kunsel set the timer on the EMP emitter he had built earlier. Grimacing, the black-haired **SOLDIER** cast _Cure_ on himself and grunted when Cloud followed it up with an _Esuna_. "Are they throwing _Poison_ at us now? Rat finks." He gave his head a shake to settle the half-helmet back into proper place.

"We _are_ the enemy at the moment, Zack. They're allowed to fire at us." Still favoring his right shoulder from a bullet wound gained earlier in the fighting, Cloud cast _Wall_ again when the former spell wound down.

By using the shaft, the three had infiltrated the building without being seen easily enough. But a lone guard had spotted them shortly after, resulting in a pitched battle that left all of them bleeding from various wounds. The alcove they dived into was now surrounded by troopers on both sides, though the **SOLDIER** s had made all of them wary of trying a direct assault again. The fight hadn't been pretty, and the results from that first attempt still littered the hallway.

In a hurried conference, they decided to go ahead and place the emitter here, since they were directly above one of the mainframe computers. There was no way they would be able to get down one more level as they originally planned.

Kunsel's quiet voice sounded from behind them. "All done. I've got the remote if we want it to go sooner, but the timer is set for ten minutes. I made it powerful enough to shut down half the systems in this place. Now we just have to find a way out of here."

Easier said than done, of course.

"There's no way we can get back to the shaft," Zack said, edging out slightly to cast _Bolt3_ down the left side corridor. Just as the spell cast before at the main power coupling, it was so powerful it melted parts of the decking as infantrymen desperately scrambled out of the way of the arching electricity, screaming as they fled. Suddenly the hallway was filled with smoke that reeked of singed wiring and scorched metal.

At the same time, Cloud ducked down and hurled _Ice3_ in the opposite direction. Jagged spikes of blue ice radiated out from a glowing orb in the middle of the corridor, coating the walls and anything not moving fast enough with a sheet of ice nearly a foot thick. No one trapped within one of those icy cocoons, even if freed quickly, would have the strength to fight for some time to come.

Kunsel joined them after using his _Restore_ connected to an _All_ materia. Crouching down, he said while replacing various objects back into what he called his goody bag of tricks, "If we can get to one of the catwalks that run between the reactor and the plate, there's a chance we can either punch our way through or rappel down into the slums." He didn't say what his companions were thinking.

Neither choice offered much hope for escape. All three of them accepted that truth without rancor as they prepared for the rush into the corridor.

"If this is it, then I'm glad it's with the two of you," Cloud said with quiet dignity. Kunsel looked up as he looped a coil of rope over his shoulder and nodded solemnly, his gold-flecked eyes glimmering in the uncertain lighting.

"Right back at you," Zack murmured, counting down in his head. "We bolt right on my signal. Cloud, go low and go hard. Kunsel, take the rear with support. I'll shield as much as…"

An explosion rocked the reactor, throwing the three men against the opposite wall of the alcove as the entire building seemed to heave upward. Kunsel's stunned "What the _hell_?" was lost in the reverberations vibrating the floor beneath their feet. Chunks of ceiling material crashed around them as alarms wailed and the corridor lights started flashing. There was enough smoke in the air to trigger the sprinkler system, and icy water began spewing from above them, drenching them in seconds. Beyond the alcove, troopers wailed in confusion as their commanding officers bellowed contradictory orders to their demoralized men.

Whatever the cause of such a diversion, Zack wasn't about to question it. "Go, go, go!" he hollered, all but tossing Cloud down the hallway even as he grabbed a handful of Kunsel's shirt to propel him forward. Picking up speed, the three hurdled the ice-encrusted troopers in a couple of bounds and were out of firing range within seconds.

Several bullets pinged against the walls as those with the more powerful artillery wasted ammunition trying to hit the rapidly moving targets in the dense smoke. "Right corridor!" Kunsel shouted from the back as frantically barked orders sounded from behind him.

Cloud veered in that direction and was out of sight like a shot. He might be the shortest of the trio, but for speed he knew few peers.

Another echoing boom rattled the structure again as they reached the catwalks spanning the yawning black abyss that led down into the slums beneath the plates. And Cloud came to an abrupt and almost violent halt that had the other two plowing into him with such force he had to grab the railing or be knocked over it. Right across from their position stood a man with neon-red hair nearly as spiky as Zack and Cloud's. And though the suit was worn far more casually than most in that organization, it still identified him without any room for doubt.

Turk. And lurking behind him was the familiar bulk of his usual partner, the bald man simply known as Rude.

There was no time for a confrontation because the infantrymen were back on their feet and chasing the **SOLDIER** s now. The shouts, boots pounding on metal grating and the occasional bullet winging through the air didn't need enhanced hearing to detect. And they were no more than a couple of minutes away from catching up.

Kunsel stepped forward and addressed the men, "Reno, Rude, we're going right through you if you don't move."

Reno's only response was a disinterested shrug while Rude straightened his sunglasses and rolled his shoulders.

Left with no choice the men darted out, moving with a speed not entirely human as they raced over the catwalk towards the unconcerned operatives. Cloud had nearly reached him when he saw the look on the redhead's face. There was regret in his eyes as he triggered a device none of them had noticed, and the catwalk shuddered as the explosive bolts on the supports were fired.

One of the infantrymen was fast enough to actually make it onto the metal walkway and Cloud whirled around, praying he would have time to grab him. The trooper was so young -little more than a boy, Cloud saw- as he took hold of his shoulder and gave a great heave, throwing him back toward his fellow troopers amassed in the archway even as the girders holding the catwalk gave way and began to fall.

Reno's voice seemed to echo as the men dropped like stones. "Don't like these orders, yo," he said in a dispirited manner very different from his normally chipper exuberance.

There was nothing to hold onto as they plummeted toward the slums far, far below...


	3. Chapter 3: An Awkward Crash Landing

**A/N:** Still working on recreating all that was lost, and the going is slow but steady. And thanks to someone (insert sunflowerspot here, please) who agreed to read this before I started posting, I now have an earlier copy of the story to help jog the ole memory. So to work, withal...

 **Chapter Summary:** Their sanctuary invaded, the women must decide if they will flee or help the **SOLDIER** s. And the men, in turn, have to figure out what to reveal about the situation above plate with ShinRa. They must remember at all times these people are innocents caught in the crossfire. As badly as they need the assistance, Zack and company are fully aware that to stay will put them in terrible danger...

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 3: An Awkward Crash Landing...**

For the briefest of seconds Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough and Starr Sapphire utterly froze.

But the sudden sound and rattling vibrations of an explosion nearby had them instinctively looking toward each other just as another, even larger blast of heat and light came from the plate looming above them. Far in the distance there were strangely distorted shouts, screams, and the horrible sound of rending metal, gunfire and the clang of steel on steel. Debris rained down all over the church, littering everything with splinters of wood, metal and concrete from a third detonation, weaker than the other two but still powerful enough to illuminate the gloomy half-light of the slums momentarily.

Because of her tumultuous upbringing Starr reacted quicker than the other two, reaching out and snagging whoever was closest even as she yelled, "Take cover!" She vaguely registered it was Aerith she had hold of before Tifa streaked by them, going into a rolling dive for the nearest bench. The three darted under the pews amidst the deadly rain of particles.

Glancing up from where she lay on her stomach, Tifa could see flames and smoke wreathing the underside of the plate above them through the giant hole in the roof of the church. Even as she watched, something huge seemed to slowly shear away from one side in a shriek of buckling steel, veering ponderously to the right and crashing violently against one of the support pillars in a crescendo of sound that echoed painfully, along with a multi-hued shower of sparks from the impact.

It was in the middle of all this chaos that there were three distinct thuds on the church roof that shook the entire building, and a trio of bodies punched through the rotten wood and ceiling beams to land right in the flowerbed, impacting so hard they bounced once before flopping down motionless as the fall of debris began trickling off.

Starr felt as though her eyes were starting right out of her head in shock, and beside her Tifa was clutching the bench so hard her knuckles were white. But Aerith was out from under her shelter in a flash, headed towards the men with hands outstretched. Her newly discovered healing abilities were apparently innate and didn't need materia to function. Suffering of _any_ kind was abhorrent to her and since discovering what she could do, she always acted quickly to alleviate it.

How Tifa managed to reach out fast enough to catch her was a mystery, but the handful of pink cloth she grabbed somehow halted the healer before the fabric tore from the stress. "Aerith!" she hissed, yanking her back forcefully by the hem of her dress. "Those are _**SOLDIER**_ uniforms!"

And Aerith instinctively recoiled, recalling all the stories of her youth about the elite class of ShinRa's forces. Tales of mako injections, Jenova cells, enhanced senses and unbelievable strength -all at the disposal of the corrupt corporation- revolved in her head as she reluctantly allowed Tifa to drag her back behind the shelter of the benches.

"We have to do _something_ , Tifa. We can't just let them lay there and die," Aerith snapped out urgently. But she was shaking and had a hand pressed to her chest as if to shield herself.

Starr shuddered at the firm resolution in Aerith's voice while peeking around the end of her pew. Her guardians had used stories of **SOLDIER** s to scare her into obedience most of her life. And while the adult she had become understood they were merely fabrications of the warped individuals that raised her, the child inside was whimpering in terror.

But... they didn't look much different from other ShinRa troopers. Their uniforms were similar enough to the other divisions she had seen - it was largely the arrangement of belts and pauldrons that set them apart from the common military. The **SOLDIER** s all wore the same make of clothing but in three different colors -black, navy and a deep purple- and sported half-helmets that left the lower portions of their faces exposed. None of them seemed to be armed.

Starr gave the underside of the plate a brief glance then looked back at the men lying in the flowerbed. The fall would have killed a normal person but she could tell they were still breathing.

Knocking the side of her head to stop the ringing in her ears and hopefully restart her thinking process, Starr stated quietly, "They are **SOLDIER** s, Aerith. The pride of ShinRa and all that. No matter what just happened above Plate, I can almost guarantee there are forces on their way here right now. It would probably be best if we gathered our things and get out before they arrive." She nodded toward the silent forms and added, "Keep in mind that anything capable of taking down _those_ three wouldn't even stub their toe on the likes of us."

Whether or not Tifa and Aerith would have done as Starr suggested became moot at that point as one of the men groaned. All three ducked out of sight as the **SOLDIER** in the navy uniform that had landed closest to them raised a hand to his head, only to curse sourly when his glove impacted with his helmet instead. Letting his arm drop, he called out in a hoarse, tired voice, "Kunsel? Cloud?" His uniform was wet and torn, smeared with ash from the earlier explosion and dirt from the flowerbed.

And bloodstained. Starr was close enough to count at least three different bullet holes in the material, each ringed with ominous crimson.

A faint grunt came from the one in the dark purple uniform off to his left, who had barely missed hitting a mass of tumbled marble blocks when he crashed. This one had a slight dent in the crown of his half-helmet and the strap of his left pauldron was nearly cut in two. He was just as dirty and damp, and the bandage wrapped haphazardly around his right bicep was so bloody it was dripping onto the white lily beside him.

"I'm here," he muttered and tried to move. The hiss that erupted from him had all three women flinching. It was shocking that so much pain could be expressed by such a simple sound.

The man in navy turned his head in an attempt to see. "How bad is it?" he croaked.

Taking a deep breath, he managed to grate out, "I'm pretty sure my right arm is broken, and my legs feel kinda numb. Cloud? Can you hear us?" His tone was urgent and concerned.

The only response to his anxious question was an agonized moan from somewhere to their right.

Both men seem to instantly forget their own injuries as they bolted upright at the sound. Kunsel -if they had his name right- gave what sounded like a confused gasp as he collapsed face down, somehow instinctively rolling to the left to avoid falling onto his broken arm. It was obvious his legs simply wouldn't support him. But the other one made it to his knees and began crawling in the direction he thought the pained cry had originated.

Without warning a flash of pink passed him like a lightning bolt and he jerked back in surprise, instinctively reaching for a weapon that was no longer attached to the magnetized stud on his back.

The third **SOLDIER** was curled up in a ball of anguished pain near the crumbling altar. There was a metal spar sticking out of his side and his left leg was twisted in a way that had Tifa swallowing hard as she slid out from under the pew. A glance at Kunsel struggling to rise without damaging his right arm further had her taking an involuntary step in his direction. Somehow it didn't seem to matter how much his presence frightened her; his pain was too great for her to ignore.

As Aerith knelt by Cloud to assess the damage, Starr gave her head a fierce shake to clear her muddled thoughts. Flight was obviously out of the question; they were committed to assist now due to Aerith's intervention. So thinking, Starr snatched her sword from its sheath on her back and activated the slotted _Restore_ materia, casting _Cure_ on the other two men, one after the other. She kept doing it until the one in navy raised a hand.

"That's good enough for me right now," he said, determinedly continuing his crawl toward his wounded companion.

Kunsel had managed to roll himself over onto his back with a series of groans from aching bones and muscles. He was still favoring his right arm and his lower legs were jerking spastically, though, so Starr cast _Cure_ on him a few more times. She longed to use the _Cure3_ stage of the materia, but held back as she had never before attempted such powerful magic.

Finally reaching the altar, the man in navy helped Aerith to turn Cloud so they could examine the worse of his wounds. The spar had completely punched through his left side, leaving a jagged rip in his flesh and a pool of blood beneath him. Aerith was tugging at it insistently, all but crying in frustration because she couldn't even budge the length of metal. It had to be removed before she could try using her healing talent on the gravely injured man. It took the strength of the **SOLDIER** to pull it free, and as soon as it was out of the way, Aerith had her hands covering the bloody gash.

The golden light that signified healing wasn't a soft, gentle glow this time. It blazed forth like a small sun, almost painfully bright even in the shaft of sunlight that was made muted and cloudy by still billowing dust motes. The man in navy jolted back in surprise, one arm rising slightly against the glare while Cloud gave a low cry that seemed to reverberate through the silent church.

It caused Kunsel to lurch to his feet again with the shout of, "Cloud!" Starr had to toss her sword aside and race forward to grab him least he end up trampling even more of Aerith's precious flowers in another not-so-graceful face-flop.

"She's healing him," she blurted out, turned her head so she addressed both men at the same time. "If the wound is really serious the closing will hurt some as she forces your body to repair itself. And he's injured way too badly for my materia to be of any help." Starr couldn't see Kunsel's eyes because of the half-helmet, but she could feel them on her.

After a long moment of scrutiny, he gently shook himself free of her grasp and reached for the strap securing his helmet. Yanking it off and tossing it over his shoulder with obvious revulsion, Kunsel looked back down at her with eyes of glowing gold-flecked velvety brown that were stained mako-green around his pupils. His sweat-soaked light brown hair was pancaked to his skull in sodden hanks, causing him to swipe at the strands obscuring his vision in irritation.

Starr was surprised enough to cautiously take a step away from him.

From her vantage point by the pews, Tifa blinked in astonishment. As her father had been an infantryman in ShinRa's forces before the drugs caused him to be dishonorably discharged, she knew something of **SOLDIER**. And his views had never been complimentary, as he seemed to consider them devil spawn dredged up from the deepest, darkest pit of hell. But she knew he had exaggerated largely out of envy for the perks and status given to that organization.

So it was hard to tell rumors from facts. But this man was about the furthest thing any of them could have imagined one of his division might look like. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than they were, to begin with, and he was handsome enough to cause a little flutter of butterfly wings in Starr's stomach.

His eyes changed so many preconceived notions. Yes, they glowed from the mako injected into his body. But despite the weary and resigned expression, they just seemed so... trustworthy. So direct and honest.

After his second, much more intense assessment of the woman beside him, he finally said in a hoarse, cracked tone, "My name is Kunsel Moreno. Thank you for the _Cures._ "

"I... uh... Starr. I'm Starr." And her voice trailed off, followed by a little self-deprecating grin. "Well, you're welcome seems a strange term right now." She glanced back over to see that Aerith was still working on Cloud. "Aerith's healing abilities were discovered only recently. Up until now, all she's worked on has been cuts and bruises, a cracked rib and one small burn. I guess we'll find out exactly what she's capable of now." She jabbed a thumb in Tifa's general direction and added rather lamely, "And that's Tifa."

The man in navy was hunched forward as he fumbled with the strap on his helmet, cursing softly under his breath again when his fingers just wouldn't work properly. Limping still, Kunsel slowly walked over and carefully knelt down to unbuckle it. "This is Zack Fair, by the way, and Cloud's last name is Strife."

Zack and the helmet finally parted company, and he tossed it aside in much the same way Kunsel had - with extreme loathing.

And both women found themselves staring in amazement again. Kunsel was very handsome, enough so to be a pleasant shock. Zack? The man was just flat out _gorgeous_. His hair was inky black and just as sadly wilted as his friend's, but it framed a face that was absolutely beautiful - male, yes, but beautiful all the same. His eyes were the most compelling thing about him, though, so rich a blue as to be nearly violet.

But they also glowed from the mako inside him, making Starr and Tifa uncertain of the situation enough that both were starting to wring their hands in apprehension, since the two **SOLDIER** s were now between them and Aerith.

Still sitting but leaning back on his hands, Zack took a long moment to scrutinize his surroundings, checking everything from the location of his companions to the structural integrity of the building. Windows and doors were carefully eyed as possible escape routes. Eventually his gaze landed on the other occupants of the church as he completed his visual circuit of the room. Something in his stare calmed the worse of their anxiety because, just like Kunsel, there was nothing about him that seemed evil despite those glowing eyes.

The sudden movement behind him had Zack attempting to whirl around, but he over-balanced and ended up falling onto his side with a pain-filled grunt that let them know he wasn't nearly as healed as earlier indicated. He looked up in time to see Aerith slowly collapsing toward him and pure instinct had him holding out his arms to catch her. As he sat up and carefully shifted the unconscious woman into a better position against him, he couldn't quite stop the soft murmur of "Hello, angel" from escaping.

He was oblivious to the soft laughter coming from the other women as he was too busy staring at the healer. Then she opened eyes of the dreamiest green and totally destroyed every thought in his head.

Aerith spent a few puzzled seconds studying the face of the man that held her before she began to push away in alarmed panic, her clumsy movements hinting at her exhaustion. When she finally won free of his helpful but unsettling grasp, she glanced at Cloud, gave a sigh and reported, "He'll be okay now, but it will take time for a full recovery. He lost a lot of blood and that leg will give him trouble for a few days despite the healing. His injuries were so severe I had to prioritize what to work on first."

As she rose, Starr edged Zack back so she could slip a supporting arm around Aerith's waist and steer her towards where Tifa waited. "How do you feel?" she asked in a soft tone, a little worried over how pale she was.

"Drained," Aerith admitted. "Very weak and tired. There was so much pain I tried to take some of it into me, but I'm not sure how well that worked. I just don't know enough about my abilities yet to understand what I'm capable of doing at this point. He should wake in just a little while." That last comment was directed at Zack as the pair passed him.

Even with Starr's help she was stumbling a bit as they approached the nearest section of pews. Then Aerith suddenly grinned with unexpected humor as her eyes landed on Tifa hovering over the small camp stove. "Did the stew survive? I could eat it right along with the pot about now."

All Tifa could do was roll her eyes and laugh despite the situation. "Yes, the stew survived. I put the lid back on it just before the explosions. Thankfully I didn't leave the heat up very high, so it didn't scorch." She stopped and eyed the two **SOLDIER** s suspiciously as they crouched by Cloud - apparently his helmet was giving them trouble as they tried to take it off. "Did you have anything to do with that?" She glanced upward and admitted, "I don't even know what's up there."

Kunsel rose and answered quietly, "We didn't cause it directly, no. It would seem that Reactor 5 is right above us. We were…" He paused, looking down at Zack in surprise because he had just smacked him on the shin. "What? They just saved our lives and I can't tell them what's going on?"

The exasperation in his voice had the women raising their eyebrows. Each had automatically assumed Zack to be the leader of this small group, but Kunsel's snapped query wasn't in the slightest subordinate.

The shake of Zack's head was firm. "Telling them will only get them into more trouble." He turned to the three women, regret on his face as he momentarily abandoned his efforts to remove Cloud's helmet. "Look, we're fugitives right now. ShinRa will be out in force trying to capture us, so we have to leave here immediately. I can't even begin to thank you enough for your help, but every second we're here puts you in more danger. We've got to _go,_ " he repeated urgently to Kunsel.

Tifa, Starr and Aerith looked at each other and weighed the import of the **SOLDIER** 's words. If the men were being hunted by the corporation, it would be in their best interest to leave the vicinity as quickly as possible. ShinRa was not known for leniency in any matter, especially against those who tried to disrupt their plans.

But on the other hand, Aerith had expended so much energy in healing Cloud that she wasn't in any shape to flee their sanctuary right at that moment. And the wounds of the three men, even with all the _Cures_ and Aerith's healing, were serious enough that flight could possibly jeopardize their health, even if they _were_ **SOLDIER** s.

After a moment, Aerith thought to point out something to them. "Even though I knew exactly where to look, it still took us several hours to find a way into this place. It's camouflaged so well with rubble that it's practically invisible. You should be safe long enough to get cleaned up, eat and rest for a little while. Tifa made plenty of stew so we can share." She cocked a quick, anxious look at Tifa for the invitation, and was relieved when the martial artist nodded without hesitation.

When Starr stepped beside her and also nodded, it made the decision unanimous. They would give what help they could.

Trying to think of practical matters now, Starr narrowed her eyes as she took off her coat, shook it to get the worse of the dust off, and pulled it back on. Bending to retrieve her sword, she asked as she sheathed it, "What are your sizes?" Laughing at the confused look on Kunsel's face, she grinned and told him, "You can't run around wearing those torn, bloody outfits. And even if you _are_ super heroes, you'll still catch chill in wet clothing. Nothing we have would fit any of you and I'm betting you would like to be clean and dry, too."

Zack mentally warred between just grabbing up Cloud and Kunsel by the scruff of their necks and taking off, and the thought of hot food and clothes that didn't smell like smoke, blood, gunpowder, sweat and wet wool. Giving his lank hair a swipe to get it out of his face, he exchanged a look with Kunsel then peered over his shoulder at Cloud. It was the latter than changed his mind. "All right." But he turned back to the women, eyes stern and filled with determination, "But when they come after us -and they will, mind you- I want your word you'll get out fast and never look back. ShinRa will be shooting to kill and anyone caught between us will die."

He saw with grim satisfaction that his words scared them. But after a moment Starr nodded, and the gesture was echoed by the other two a few seconds later. Zack found it interesting that all three women made up their own minds without the others pressuring them in any way.

"Right. So, sizes?" Starr reminded.

It was still daylight, relatively speaking in the slums, so the shop they bought supplies from would still be open. Starr didn't think the shopkeeper would be as cooperative with her as he had with Aerith, but he did stock the cargo type pants typical of ShinRa troopers and some first aid supplies the guys definitely needed. Even without bargaining his prices weren't exceptionally high so they had enough gil to cover the cost.

Gil turned out to be the least of their problems, since the men had plenty on them and handed it over without protest. The trouble was how Starr could handle all the items they needed as well as how to squeeze them through the tightly constricted entrance to the church. There was also the overly suspicious shopkeeper to contend with when he saw what she was purchasing.

"Look, there's just been another explosion. We don't _have_ to tell him what's going on, but if he asks, wouldn't it stand to reason we might have to replace some things that were destroyed by all that flying debris?" Tifa asked pointedly when Aerith continued to worry about the situation. She knew the healer was actually fretting over all the unanswered questions the **SOLDIER** s were refusing to divulge. The shopping expedition was just a convenient excuse to air her uncertainties.

"Yes, but men's clothing?" Aerith asked, rubbing unconsciously at her bruised wrists as she watched the men from the corner of her eye. The further away they were from her, the more she relaxed. And the chary caution had nothing to do with the fact they were **SOLDIER**.

Snorting slightly, Starr made a dismissive gesture with one hand and said airily, "Our rescuers messed up their pants helping us out. Might as well buy them some new outfits." She noticed the two men were strictly staying out of the conversation and had to give them marks for both intelligence and common sense - two traits that did not always coincide.

Fortified by water collected from the stream, the duo was determinedly attacking Cloud's stubborn helmet again. The left side was impressively concaved by an impact, and Zack was patiently bending the edges a little at a time as they worked to get it off without injuring Cloud further.

In the end, the women decided among themselves that Tifa would go with Starr while Aerith stayed behind. It was not an ideal situation, but they didn't have many options - Aerith was too weak to accompany them and the **SOLDIER** s didn't dare show their faces outside of the church. They had nearly completed a list of the items needed when Zack gave a soft shout of warning just before the offending helmet zipped over their heads to imbed itself in the wall to their left with a bone-rattling _thunk_.

Concerned, all three rose and headed over to make sure Cloud was okay. They didn't get more than a couple steps before the man in question sat up with Kunsel's aid and turned towards them.

Both Kunsel and Zack had stunned the women with their appearances. **SOLDIER** s, in their minds, were supposed to be vicious, brutal men easily controlled by ShinRa because what little brains they had were in their biceps - or jock straps, depending on which version of the stories you happened to hear. They were also supposed to be hideously ugly, scarred and possibly even deformed by the methods used to create them. Telling of such frightening characteristics had worked well to scare misbehaving children into obedience for years.

But… Cloud looked nearly angelic, even with his pale blonde hair sweat-matted to his bruised face. There was simply no other way to describe his features, and his pale skin merely emphasized the similarity. Then he opened his eyes, and they were incredibly blue - the vivid, brilliant blue of tropical waters caressing blinding white sands. It was so saturated a shade it didn't need the mako in his system to glow.

For a long moment he stared at them, curiosity showing in his expression. Then he started coughing, a horrid wet tearing sound from deep within his chest, and Kunsel hurriedly offered a cup of water in hopes of soothing his throat. "Easy, Cloud. Here, try to drink just a little." He managed to choke some down before the two lifted him to his feet and started towards the closest pew.

Leaving the men to get Cloud situated on the bench, Starr pulled Aerith off to the side and said very quietly, "If there is any trouble, run to the back room and use that tunnel that exits into Sector 4. It looks blocked off but I've piled it up so you can shove the rubble right out of your way. Make for the vent pipe where we spend that first night in Sector 5, okay?"

Nodding, Aerith impulsively embraced both of them. "I'll be fine. I'm just hoping there will be some stew left over for the two of you because I fully intend to eat at least half of it." The words were said teasingly even though her face reflected her apprehension at being left alone with the three **SOLDIER** s.

"I would rather die than harm her," Zack swore softly from his position over on the far side of the chapel where Kunsel was telling Cloud what had happened since their fall from the catwalk. The fact that Zack could hear their whispers across the entire length of the room -and over the soft babbling of the stream- was proof that at least _some_ of the rumors regarding them were very true.

Bracing themselves, the two women gave Aerith encouraging smiles before turning to pick their out of the church, hoping to complete their mission quickly and return without incident...

 **Meanwhile, above Plate...**

Hand shaking with the effort, Captain Bailey wearily answered his PHS as he shifted his aching right arm resting on a mound of pillows. "Yes?"

The rich, smooth voice on the other end was curt and to the point. _"Tseng ordered at least one of the explosions."_

Rubbing between his eyebrows in hopes of soothing his pounding headache, he asked, "Any idea why?"

A grunt sounded. _"The only explanation Reno offered was 'diversion', and I'm not going through what it took to make that blasted red-head admit that right now."_

"Yes, but _who_ was to be diverted?" Bailey muttered aggressively. "None of my men leaked Zack's plans; I have their solemn assurances on that. Temple was the only one that even knew about the dumb-waiter, and he wouldn't discuss it with me - I had to pry it out of Kunsel, and let me tell you firmly that that man _does not_ willingly part with information. I think he was afraid I would insist on crawling along behind them if I found out how they were getting into the Reactor." He paused before admitting grudgingly, "Well founded, that fear."

There was a faint crackle of laughter before the voice became serious again, _"Apparently the_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _s weren't the only group in the Reactor at that time. Reports state that two other factions were also on the move. And for some god-forsaken reason the Turks were ordered to step into the middle of everything. Whether it was to help or hinder is a good question."_

"Gods," he muttered, rubbing at the base of his neck. Mixing stone-cold Turks with irate **SOLDIER** s bent on revenge? It was a wonder the reactor hadn't been blown clean off the infrastructure of Midgar. "What is going _on_?"

" _Unknown at this time. But_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _has been disbanded. There are warrants of arrest for all members, and most of the support staff as well."_

Bailey sucked in a breath at this unexpected news and asked hurriedly, "Lazard?" Then he cursed softly and snapped out in a hard tone, "Hojo? Hollander?"

There was a distinctly bitter snort before the man said, _"Hojo and Hollander are at work in their labs as usual. Lazard has disappeared, as have all others in his division. ShinRa has no one in their holding cells to blame for plate-fall or the bombing of a reactor. Be very careful, Captain. They are actively looking for a scapegoat right now."_

"And Fair, Strife and Moreno?"

The words were spoken hollowly, signaling deep regret as he repeated, _"Their fate is still unknown at this time. The region where they fell from the plate is riddled with debris and collapsed buildings. It's one of the oldest sections of the slums, and the chances of them surviving such a drop are…"_

Cutting off the words he didn't really want to hear, Bailey snapped out, "Don't. I will not consider them dead without physical proof. They've proven to be just a little too resourceful to write off so quickly. Should I order my remaining troopers to leave Midgar?"

" _Your troops are not under suspicion because they are unimportant to whatever overall scheme ShinRa is planning._ Your _safety is another matter altogether, Grant. The reports hint they are aware of the role you played during plate-fall. Nothing overt is being said, but you need to make plans now while there is still time. That's why I called."_

Rising with difficultly, Bailey limped into his tiny bedroom to begin packing. The man he spoke with wasn't one to mince words, and if he said the situation was getting dangerous, then he meant it. "Any suggestions on where to go?"

" _Fort Condor,"_ was the prompt rely. _"I have information that suggests it has a role to play in this farce."_

Bailey grunted as he hauled a duffel out of his closet. "They have no love of ShinRa, Reeve, and even less patience regarding anything they are involved with."

" _Exactly my point. Call when you're ready and I'll send a transport to pick you up. The_ Gelnika _leaves within the hour, and I would like you to be aboard when it does."_

Knowing just how much that was likely to cost the ShinRa division head, Bailey genuinely appreciated the sacrifice. "Send it now. I'll be done in just a couple of minutes," he told him, tossing clothing willy-nilly into the bag. "And watch out for yourself. There are spies infiltrating every section of the company and you're probably in more danger than anyone else I can think of right at this moment."

Another bitter laugh sounded. _"I'm not considered a threat just now. What are the odds that a man who plays with dolls could jeopardize their plans?"_

The self-depreciated humor in the words weren't lost on Bailey. "I don't consider the Cait Sith models to be dolls. Any animatronic that can think for itself and throw around the types of magic they do aren't toys. I'm finished packing and ready to go," he said, stepping into the miniscule bathroom and shoving whatever was on the tiny counter into the duffel.

" _The transport is on its way and should arrive momentarily. Best of luck, Bailey."_

And the connection was cut before the captain could offer the same hope.

 **And high above Midgar in the ShinRa tower...**

Reeve Tuesti hung up the phone and sat staring grimly at the device. Things were coming to a head in ShinRa and he still didn't understand the reasons behind their actions. The dropping of the plate seemed... far more than a show of excessive force. It seemed like a challenge, a direct slap into the face of decency. But whom were they challenging? And exactly _who_ was behind it all?

He looked up when the door to his office opened and a man silently slid inside, taking care to close the panel just as quietly before turning to face the room's occupant.

Blinking, Reeve said in a low tone, "That door was locked, you know."

"It was," the man agreed as he crossed over to the desk where Reeve sat. It was Tseng Shion, the head of the Turks. "And I don't have much time to explain. I did _not_ order my agents to assist in the dropping of the plate." He held up a hand to forestall whatever remark Reeve thought to make. "There isn't time to explain," he repeated urgently. "I need the use of at least one of your Cait Sith units immediately. I have to locate the three **SOLDIER** s that attacked Reactor 5 as quickly as possible, _if_ they are even still alive."

"Tseng…" It was all Reeve was able to get out before the other man was speaking again.

"Hojo is even now eagerly awaiting either the men themselves or their dead bodies, Reeve!" Tseng was clearly desperate and wasn't too picky over how he secured the aid he required.

The snapped comment had the desired effect as Reeve picked up his PHS and dialed a particular sequence. Within a couple of seconds two of the Cait Sith dolls -constructed to resemble black toy cats with tiny gold crowns and red capes- popped up from various hiding places within his office. By the time he rose to his feet, three more had arrived.

They assembled before him, five tiny bewhiskered faces tilted upward in rapt attention. "Go with Tseng," he ordered, gesturing to the Wutaian beside him. "Obey his orders explicitly, but," and here he shot a withering glance at the Turk, "all of you are to keep me appraised of the situation." Reeve turned and said in warning when Tseng growled out an oath, "I won't willingly become a pawn to be sacrificed in this game. I'll help you if there is any way to keep the **SOLDIER** s or their remains out of Hojo's hands, but I will not allow you to use and discard me as is so typical of the Turks... And ShinRa."

Though fury showed in the exotically slanted dark eyes, Tseng gave a jerk of his head that signaled compliance. Then he gestured for the animatronics to follow him as he left the room as silently as he had entered.

And Reeve walked around his desk to sink into his chair, once more staring at the PHS resting on its surface. After a moment of reflection, he leaned forward and began programming search parameters into his computer. _Too many questions without any answers_ , he thought.

No matter the risk, it was time to start finding out what was really going on...


	4. Chapter 4: Left alone with the SOLDIERs

**A/N:** The attempt to merge the prior version with the current one continues; I'm considering it a juggling act to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. And it's deviating more and more from the original as I continue. I still like the changes, though...

 **Chapter Summary:** While working among her flowers, Aerith is approached by Zack. Their conversation gives her plenty to consider. And after successfully dodging an interrogation by the old grump in the shop, Tifa and Starr are startled to find a toy cat skulking around the ruins surrounding the church. Starr interrupts Aerith's second conversation with Zack when she dashes in to tell them about the strange critter outside. Zack and Kunsel's hopes are dashed when Cloud points out there is no telling who is controlling the animatronic. And tired of not knowing exactly what is going on, the women plan out their strategy for convincing the **SOLDIER** s to part with the information…

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 4: Left alone with the SOLDIERs...**

Humming softly to herself, Aerith Gainsborough worked to remove the debris from among the white and yellow lilies growing in the abandoned church in Sector 5 of the Midgar slums. Though she appeared completely engrossed in her task, she was careful to keep the three **SOLDIER** s within her line of sight as they hunkered down near the stream, doing what they could to clean up before trying some of Tifa's stew.

Why she was so intent on laboring in the flowerbed was beyond her at the moment. More than likely, her determination was simply the desire to have something to keep her mind off the current situation, as Tifa Lockhart and Starr Sapphire hadn't returned from their shopping expedition yet. Feeling so alone and vulnerable was uncomfortable, and the added presence of the men only made the experience worse. Men weren't to be trusted; Aerith had learned that lesson early in life and never intended to forget it.

And yet they respected her privacy and did not interrupt either her efforts or her thoughts.

Aerith sat back on her heels, pausing to use Starr's bandana to wipe her brow as she surveyed the remaining area to clear. That spar was going to be a problem. She was by no means a weakling as she was used to battling it out with her stepfather nearly every day. But the piece of metal was heavy, and the thought of touching the bloodstained object made her skin crawl as she remembered all too well the horrific damage it inflicted on Cloud Strife.

The sound of footsteps brought her attention back to the present, and she turned to see Zack Fair walking towards her, his pace slow and loud enough to give her plenty of warning that he was approaching. And he stopped several meters away from her before speaking, asking quietly, "That spar is really in your way, isn't it? Would you like me to move it for you?"

No matter how suspicious she might be of his motives, it was kind of him to offer to help. He might be **SOLDIER** but he was _not_ indestructible, and whatever fight had taken place before his plunge from the catwalk had taken a serious toll on his strength. Not to mention the bullet holes perforating various areas of his hide.

So she gave him a soft smile and replied, "If it's not too much trouble. I really... just don't want to touch the thing."

His laugh was mirthless as he leaned over to take a good hold of the spar and heave it through the blasted opening in the church wall. "I agree." Brushing his hands off, he mentioned casually, "Cloud managed to grab hold of the trooper that followed us onto the catwalk and tossed him to safety even as we were falling. If he hadn't gone back those few steps he would have been out of range of that thing." His gesture indicated the spar now embedded in the crumbling rubble of what had been part of the west wall of the church.

Appraising him coolly, Aerith summed up his statement. "So, we've got ShinRa **SOLDIER** s being chased and fired upon by ShinRa infantrymen. And one of those ShinRa **SOLDIER** s risks his life to save a ShinRa infantryman so he won't fall and die. And all of this happens _as_ the ShinRa **SOLDIER** s are falling to their probable deaths."

Zack's expression turned sheepish as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Ah... Yeah?"

There was something so adorable about his embarrassment that it made Aerith laugh in spite of herself. "Go eat. I'm going to work for a while longer." She raised an eyebrow at his stern expression. "And just what is that disapproving look for?"

Blowing out a breath, Zack tried as best he could to say mildly, "You really need to eat something, too. Whatever ability you used to heal the worst of Cloud's wounds drained you to the point you momentarily lost consciousness. So you probably need food to help restore your energy. I know the three of you agreed to let us have some, but we don't intend to devour the whole pot; Tifa and Starr haven't had any, either."

She was surprised by his consideration, but it did little to ease the instinctive mistrust she had for men. "I'll be fine for right now, so go ahead. I showed you where we keep the bowls and spoons." Before she could turn back to the flowers, he spoke again.

"I didn't put those bruises on your wrists," Zack pointed out quietly. His gaze was very direct as he stared into her eyes.

The firmness of his tone had her looking at him sharply. "I am well aware of that," she told him, her voice cool and unemotional. "But you'll excuse me if I reserve judgment for the moment. You came to us through violence - and won't explain why you're being hunted by ShinRa even though you are supposedly a part of the same company."

Uncomfortable with her accurate assessment, Zack shifted his feet around a few times before he asked rather plaintively, "Is it so wrong of me to want to protect you?"

That line of reasoning was so unexpected Aerith blinked. "Protect me?" she echoed faintly, not sure she heard him correctly.

Zack rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the tension in his neck before he said, "Yes, protect you. Something is... wrong within ShinRa. I don't know what it is. I can't get a handle on it, and I can't seem to cut through all the barriers and walls and shields they've thrown up to conceal their intentions. It's like they're removing the mask of benevolence to reveal what's always been just beneath the surface; the greed, the evil, the insidious need to control everything around them and force all to bow to their power."

Considering his words carefully, Aerith finally asked, "And just where does that leave the **SOLDIER** s?"

"Right smack dab in the middle of everything," Kunsel Moreno answered as he walked up to hand Zack a spoon and a bowl of stew. The fragrant steam coming out of it was nearly enough to make him drool. "I don't agree with his decision not to tell you what's going on. I really think you're already too involved not to know the truth. But I will say that he's got your best interests at heart." Holding up a hand, Kunsel forestalled her objections. "I'm not asking you to believe us, as you obviously have reasons not to trust lightly. As soon as we can safely move Cloud we'll be out your way." He shocked her when he offered a deep, respectful bow as he said, "I will never forget what you did for us, Lady. I'm not sure any of us would have survived without the aid you and your friends gave willingly, _despite_ knowing what we are."

So saying, he turned and walked off without so much as a backwards glance. Zack gave Aerith a bow as well and followed his fellow **SOLDIER** over to where Cloud was sitting by the small stream eating in a rather mechanical manner. He didn't look up as Zack and Kunsel settled down on either side of him and started tucking into the stew with considerable gusto.

Aerith continued to watch as the two began to tease Cloud, gently drawing him out, helping him to forget his pain for at least a short while as they joked around. And she knew why the sight of the hesitant and reluctant smile on that angelic face nearly reduced her to tears. It was because their actions brought to mind the way she and Starr had tended to Tifa when she was so wounded over the possible death of her father.

Like it or not, even though they were male and therefore supposedly untrustworthy, they understood and valued friendship just as much as she did...

 **And at the small shop in the Sector 5 slums...**

Luck, Starr Sapphire admitted unwillingly, was running high at the moment. And that worried her, since luck tended to run _out_ at the worst possible time...

She fully expected an interrogation when she and Tifa Lockhart walked into the small store owned by the worse grump this side of Midgar. But to see the old man down on his knees, attempting to pick up all the stock that had tumbled to the floor during the explosions in the reactor above, was a bit too much for her awakening sympathies to withstand. And as there was no dissension from her companion, Starr dived in to help.

Between the three of them, the store was picked up and organized so quickly it was a shock to look around and realized everything was in its place.

Brushing off his hands, the crotchety grouch held out a hand for the list sticking out of Tifa's glove, where she had tucked it before starting the pickup. He took one glance at the items, grunted, and narrowed his eyes. But instead of asking questions as they expected, he promptly began filling it. He grunted even more when the two women took the supplies he laid on the counter and loaded them into bags and boxes as he went. Once finished, he rang everything up, muttering unintelligibly as he worked the register.

Obviously he gave them a considerable discount for their assistance, as the price came to roughly half of what they expected. The gesture didn't seem to come easy to him, however, because no sooner had they paid than he escorted them to the door, gave a slight bow as a thank you, and immediately locked it behind them. A second later the _open_ sign was flicked over to _closed_ and the shade pulled down.

"Not a single word," Tifa commented to herself, balancing a box and two bags with the ease of a veteran waitress. There was a twitchy smile on her face for such dispassionate service.

"Not a single question, either," Starr pointed out with a grin, not quite as coordinated with her own burden as the martial artist. "Let's scram. I know it didn't take that long in there, but I really don't like the thought of Aerith all by herself." Neither mentioned the church or the **SOLDIER** s. There was just no way to tell what ears might be listening.

With Tifa following carefully in Starr's footsteps, the two hugged the shadows as much as possible on their way back. Once they reached the general area of the abandoned church, Starr tucked her packages in among the debris and cautioned Tifa, "I'm going to take a look around first, just in case. It's been long enough for ShinRa to start a search for the guys. Do you mind staying here and keeping watch for a minute or two?"

Considering what was at stake Tifa didn't object, even though she felt exposed and vulnerable outside their sanctuary. "I'll stay," she told Starr, hunkering down out of sight.

"Thanks. I'll be just a moment, I swear." Then she was gone, seemingly swallowed up by the darkening surroundings.

Almost to herself, Tifa said softly, "I don't know how she does that…"

Crouching down just a little more allowed her to see most of the path leading towards the nearby entrance to the church. All was silent in this part of the slums, and the long day, the stress of the **SOLDIER** s' arrival and the tension caused by their presence was beginning to catch up to her. It was difficult to muffle the yawn intent on escaping. Moving carefully, she managed to cover her mouth without hitting any of the debris around her. Doing so would probably cause a domino effect with all the rubble that would alert any monster lurking nearby. _As well as bury me in trash,_ she thought sleepily.

Then Tifa saw furtive movement off to one side and knew it wasn't big enough to be Starr. Squinting in the poor light, she saw a small animal of some kind was poking around the tumbled ruins, and it was making sounds almost like... mumbling? Tifa caught a flash of red as it stealthily worked its way past her, by chance just missing the carefully camouflaged opening that led into the church.

Eyes narrowed, no longer even remotely sleepy, Tifa continued to observe the creature. In the gathering darkness it was impossible to be sure, but the thing looked like a cat - but one that walked on its hind legs and muttered to itself. The novelty of it keep her attention riveted so strongly she wasn't aware she was no longer alone until Starr made a soft sound to warn of her return.

"I saw it just as I was coming back," she whispered, mouth right next to Tifa's ear. "Whatever it is, it's not an actual cat. It's wearing a little gold crown and has a red cape. And boots."

The absurdity of the description wasn't amusing. "Can we get any of this stuff inside without drawing its notice?" Tifa asked, shifting slightly with great care. A corner of one of the boxes was poking into her side.

Starr nodded. "Give me that duffel. I'll slip in and let the guys know what's going on, then come out for more." She handed over a dark blue bandana. "I'll be watching before I come out, and need you to wave this if that thing is anywhere around, okay?"

Taking it with a smile, Tifa asked rhetorically, "How many of these things do you have?"

The only answer was a soft laugh as Starr darted out of the shadows and disappeared through the entrance as though swallowed by a void...

 **While inside the church...**

Hunger finally won out as the scent of the stew continued to torment her empty stomach. Rising, Aerith left the flowerbed and quietly approached the small stream meandering through the church. She knelt and began the tiresome job of scrubbing her hands and wrists clean in the almost shockingly cold water. As she worked, she noticed the **SOLDIER** s had finished their portions, then washed and restacked their bowls and utensils neatly by the camp stove.

Now they huddled together, talking quietly as they drank more water. Cloud was sitting on the end of the pew, Kunsel at his feet while Zack was perched on the arm right beside him. It was easy to see how much pain the blonde man was in, and it hurt deep inside that she didn't have the strength to take the agony away.

Angry with her own limitations, Aerith continued to rub at the dirt under her fingernails, so absorbed in her task she didn't realize Zack had approached until he said quietly, "Keep that up and your fingers will start bleeding."

Startled, she whirled around, sending a stream of water splashing over the wooden boards of the floor. The fact he had stopped several meters away from her again eased the worse of the anxiety and allowed her to regain her poise fairly quickly. "I was…" her voice trailed off as she noticed just how reddened her cuticles had become under the relentless scouring. Aerith wasn't quite sure why she confessed her thoughts to him, but the words just seemed to tumble out as she admitted, "I'm just so mad I can't heal Cloud enough right now to ease his pain. It upsets me to see him hurting."

Zack squatted on his heels and told her firmly, "He's alive. And he wouldn't have been for long if you hadn't pushed yourself to exhaustion during the healing." Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he said quietly, "Kunsel and I are too depleted to use magic right now. Starr's _Cure_ helped a lot, but we're completely drained after that battle upstairs. We knew going in that we probably wouldn't make it out, yet here we are, still alive and kicking. And that's largely thanks to the three of you." He gave a soft laugh, "Your healing, Starr's _Restore_ materia, and Tifa's stew."

Aerith watched in surprise as he rose and took up one of the bowls, ladling a generous portion into it before retrieving a spoon. When he walked over to hand it to her, she couldn't help but noticed he went out of his way not to crowd her. "Thank you," she told him in a hesitant tone, then tasted the stew just to have something to do with her hands. Her eyes went wide, causing Zack to laugh.

"Good, huh?" Those nearly violet eyes were sparkling in the dim lighting.

"Starr asked Tifa where she kept the magic wand when we first met. I think I'll have to ask as well." With good appetite, Aerith spooned up more and tried not to acknowledge how closely he watched as she ate. "Any particular reason you're staring at me?" she finally asked, for his gaze was making her nervous.

The way he blinked and quickly turned away said louder than words he wasn't aware he was looking at her so intently. "Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck again. "It's just… well…"

Before he could say more Starr came pelting into the church, slinging the duffel she held off to the side. "There's this really strange critter nosing around the area. Tifa's outside watching it."

Kunsel came forward, brows furrowed. "Critter?" he repeated, curious as to why she would use such a term instead of simply saying 'monster'.

"It looks for all the world like a stuffed toy cat." The bafflement on her face wasn't shared by the men in the room.

All three were on their feet at her words. "A black and white cat that wears a little gold crown and has a red cape that's tied at his throat in a big bow?" Zack asked.

Elaborated further, Kunsel added, "With brown boots and white gloves?"

Starr exchanged a startled look with Aerith before admitting, "Yep."

Kunsel relaxed enough to smile as he took another step forward. "Reeve."

"Maybe not," Cloud said quietly, turning all eyes towards him. It was the first time any of the women had heard him speak, and his voice was soft and just a little lower than the other two, with a slightly husky tone that made it particularly sensual. "There are several organizations that use the Cait Sith animatronics for recon. We know the Turks are after us - Reno and Rude made that very clear. And Reeve wouldn't have any choice but to go along if someone from ShinRa requested the use of his units."

Frowning, Zack paced back and forth twice before stopping to look at the other two **SOLDIER** s. "That really complicates this situation even more. Reeve is the one person within ShinRa we can trust, but Cloud is right. There's no telling who might be controlling that Cait Sith."

"Um... _Hell_ -O?" Starr interrupted, waving her hands around to make sure she had their attention. "Tifa outside with supplies?" she reminded succinctly.

Moving in a careful manner so different from his normal agility, Cloud gestured for Starr to lead him. "Right. You've set up a signal in case she can see the animatronic?" He did his best to not to limp as he stepped up to her; his left leg was happily throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

Starr was momentarily fascinated by the fact she and Cloud were directly eye-to-mako-stained-eye. With his long legs she would have thought him taller… Then she gave her head a shake and turned on her heel, saying over her shoulder, "Yeah, I gave her a bandana to wave in case she spied it in the area." Heading for the entrance, she added, "It bottlenecks just before you get outside. Since you're my height I know you won't have a problem with the low ceiling, but you've got some fairly wide shoulders on that slim frame."

He gave a soft chuckle as he followed behind her, "I know how to shift sideways." But she noticed that any sharp movement had him gritting his teeth.

Reaching the camouflaged end of the tunnel, Starr carefully peered around a boulder, giving her eyes a chance to adjust to the increasingly dimming light. Tifa stood up and waved, letting her know the coast was clear. So Starr and Cloud darted out, moving quickly into the concealing debris where Tifa stood guard over the supplies.

"Any problems?" Starr asked quietly as the three of them gathered up the bags and boxes.

Tifa shook her head. "It didn't return once it worked its way past, and I haven't seen anyone else." She couldn't help but watch as Cloud, without any apparent effort, lifted the heaviest of the boxes with one hand. "There's a lot of movement above us, though. Voices and footsteps, but everything is distorted by echoes so I couldn't understand any of it."

With a soft grunt, Cloud slung one of the remaining duffels over his shoulder and gestured toward the opening, "My senses are a lot sharper than yours, so I'll watch while the two of you get inside." The pressure of the bag over his right shoulder was making the bullet wound throb -rather gleefully- in time with his leg.

Nudging Tifa, Starr did her best to hide a knowing grin when the martial artist jerked slightly. She fully understood the fascination, but now wasn't the time to be mesmerized by the alluring tone. "Let's go," she said, shifting her load slightly as she turned. Both took a deep breath then bolted across the path and into the tunnel. Tifa kept going, but Starr paused long enough to see Cloud sprint from concealment, crossing the distance in half the time it had taken the women.

Once inside, he dropped the box and started to unload it, knowing it wouldn't fit in the narrow space further along. Feeling eyes on him, he glanced up to see Starr watching him closely. Instead of speaking, he merely raised an eyebrow at her - he feared opening his mouth with the stitch in his side still stabbing away at him.

That arched eyebrow made her laugh. "I think I'll start calling you Fast Feet. If you can move that quickly even though you aren't fully recovered…" Holding out her hands, she took the supplies he gave her and turned, only to run right into Kunsel. _It's like walking into a brick wall,_ she thought rather giddily as she all but bounced back from the impact.

"I'll help him," he assured her, deftly slipping past despite the tightness of the area.

"Be sure to erase any footprints in the area," she suggested, then gave a shrug and continued into the church when there was no immediate reply from either of them. Ducking under the fallen column just before the tunnel entered the church, Starr braced herself, determined not to falter again no matter how in shape these guys might be.

She was composed when Zack came forward to relieve her of the bags she carried, gesturing to where Tifa sat talking with Aerith. "Go eat while the stew is still hot. We're finished and can handle this for right now."

As he disappeared into the tunnel, Starr wandered over and plopped down beside Aerith, eyeing her up and down. "Well, you don't seem any worse for wear despite the company. Did anyone misbehave?" Her shocking blue eyes were twinkling as she asked her question in a hopeful tone.

"You," Tifa stated firmly, "are incorrigible." So saying, she rose and fetched two bowls of stew, handing one to Starr.

Who gulped down a huge spoonful before admitting proudly around a second, slightly smaller one, "Yep, I am, and proud of it. First-rate job on the stew, Cook. And I notice you didn't answer my question, Flower Girl."

There was nothing humorous in Aerith's reply. "Zack… let a few things slip," she said quietly, keeping her hands folded in her lap so she didn't start wringing them again in anxiety. "There's something going on inside ShinRa, and whatever it is, the **SOLDIER** s are against it. And even though I have no proof, I think…" she paused, chewing on her lip before admitting, "…maybe they tried to stop the plate from dropping. Remember those flyers the infantrymen were waving around near Sector 6? I can't say for sure, but the man in one of them seemed to have black feathery hair, and another was definitely a blonde with brilliant blue eyes."

Now that Zack's hair was clean and not caked to his head with sweat and blood, it was starting to stick up in feathery spikes as it dried. Cloud was definitely a blonde, and no one could deny his eyes were nearly Day-Glo blue.

It was enough of a shock that Starr stopped inhaling her food and put the bowl down. Tifa did likewise, curling up with her knees against her chest, arms locked around them.

Aerith just gave a tired sigh and rubbed between her eyebrows. "When I told him I didn't trust them because they came to us in violence, he asked if it was so wrong for him to want to protect me. That knocked me for a loop, let me tell you. No one has ever tried to protect me -from anything- my entire life. And he told me that he couldn't understand what's happening with ShinRa right now, why they no longer seem to care if people can see the evil within the company. I asked where did that leave the **SOLDIER** s, and Kunsel said right in the middle of everything."

Appetite gone, Starr pushed the bowl away from her. "So what this basically means is that we're now involved in this big, scrambled mess, whether we want to be or not."

"I'm afraid so. And Kunsel doesn't like that Zack is keeping the facts from us," Aerith added.

"Well, then," Tifa said, rising to her feet. "We'll just have to insist that they tell us."

Starr couldn't help the cynical laugh that escaped. "Uh, excuse me, but these men are **SOLDIER** s. Just how in the world do you propose to, um… _force_ them to admit anything?"

Tifa squared her shoulders and raised her chin. "They owe us their lives. And no matter what rumors I've heard about them, they have honor. Zack swore when we left to go shopping that he would rather die than harm you, Aerith. With your own ears you heard him admit he wants to protect you. If any of that is true, he'll tell us. His conscious won't let him do anything less." She sat down next to Starr and handed her the half-eaten bowl of stew. "Try to finish this, Starr. I know how upsetting everything is right now, but it's vitally important that we keep ourselves fit. Zack didn't say ShinRa _might_ find them - he stressed that they _would_. And we need to be ready to run at a moment's notice."

With a sigh, Starr took up the spoon and poked at the contents of the bowl. "I just…" Taking a small bite, she chewed in thoughtful silence for a minute before continuing. "There's something about this place that makes me reluctant to leave. A sense of… peace I've never experienced before. No one yells at me here, there are no locks on the doors, and I can sit in the sunshine if I want to dare Aerith's wrath over the flowers." Ignoring the healer's sputtered words, Starr gave them one of her rare smiles. "I feel alive here, and I'm afraid that feeling will fade if I leave."

Tifa's grin was a little on the naughty side as she promised, "Don't worry. No matter where we are, I've still got that wooden spoon if you start acting like a robot again. A couple of whacks should take care of the problem."

And for a moment all was right in their world as the three of them busted out laughing…

 **And in the tunnel entrance of the church…**

The faint sound of laughter floating up the tunnel made all three men pause. The distraction was enough for Zack to completely lose his train of thought, prompting Kunsel to Gibbs-slap him upside the head to recall his attention to the problem at hand. "You can be scatterbrained later, oh glorious leader. Until we figure out who is controlling that Cait Sith unit, keep your glands in check and your eyes faced forward. You're not a teenager anymore, son." It was quite a comical statement, considering Kunsel was a year younger than Zack.

Something sounding suspiciously like an amused snort escaped Cloud as he knelt in the entrance, carefully crouched down to peer around the obscuring boulder. He totally ignored Zack's angry mutters and Kunsel's quiet chuckle as he rubbed the back of his right shoulder, trying to make the bone-deep ache subside. "Will the two of you be _quiet_?! I couldn't hear a herd of elephants stampeding through with all the noise you're making."

Chastised, the two fell silent as Cloud continued to listen carefully. But whatever rustling noise heard earlier now eluded him. "It's gone." He cut his eyes to the side and glared at the men behind him, but the rebuking stare was marred by a wince as the stitch in his side intensified, momentarily taking his breath away.

"We need to get Starr to use her _Cure_ on you a few times," Kunsel said quietly. "It's powerful enough that it might help."

"Maybe," Cloud said quietly, turning back towards the path outside. Then he crouched down even more as motion caught his eye. "Got something." His voice was barely a whisper of sound.

All three watched as the animatronic scurried in their direction. The poor thing was so dusty from climbing around and under the rubble during its search it looked more gray than black, and the red cape was missing. The tiny white gloves on his paws were nearly black with grime, his boots scuffed and slashed in several places from sharp-edged debris. And he was mewling in distress, making tiny little mutters as he dodged desperately from shadow to shadow.

Making a split-second decision, Cloud snatched the toy cat by the scruff of the neck as he passed, startling both his companions with the lightning fast movement.

The yowl that escaped the tiny animatronic cut off abruptly at the sight of the man holding him. "Och, laddie!" The unit cried out softly as he curled itself around Cloud's arm, hugging the appendage with all four limbs and every ounce of his strength. "Ye be alive!" The tiny bewhiskered face lifted to behold the two men behind him and added in nearly delirious joy as he squeezed even harder, " _All_ of ye!"

The rich Scottish lilt was quickly replaced by Reeve's smooth tones. _"I can't tell you how relieved I am to see the three of you. Now listen closely; I don't have a lot of time. Tseng is nominally controlling units one through five in search of you. This is unit two. Three things you need to know. One - Tseng didn't order the Turks to assist with plate-fall. Two -_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _has been disbanded. There are warrants of arrest out on all of you, and most of the support staff as well. And three - Hojo has been granted funding for another project, complete with a highly advanced new lab and staff. Only one of your division was captured during plate-fall -a 3_ _rd_ _Class under Genesis- but he escaped before anything could be done. Tseng told me he needed the Cait Siths to find you so you don't fall into Hojo's hands."_

Zack cleared his throat and asked, "Are you in any danger right now?"

" _No. Tseng seems to be acting on his own for the moment. When he claimed he wasn't involved in dropping the plate, I took a good look at video scans for the past two weeks. He's not been in the tower at all."_

This had Kunsel straightening up in alarm. "You said during the meeting that the authorization for the Turks' orders came through his computer, with all the proper coding."

" _It did. But in the heat of the moment I didn't think to check the visuals since all the passcodes used were correct. It wasn't Tseng in the office at that time - It was Rufus."_

Who was the son of President ShinRa. "What in all _Ifrit_ is going on, Reeve?" Cloud asked plaintively.

" _Unknown at this time. Bailey is safe; I sent him off hours ago. And I took a long look at the video when Tseng was in my office earlier. He's lost considerable weight in a short amount of time - and I noticed bruises on his wrists almost hidden by his shirt cuffs."_

"He's been a captive, then. And we have no clue who was holding him." Cloud released the unit and rubbed wearily at his face. "How long can you stall the search before anyone gets suspicious? We can't leave in the shape we're in right now and… there are others to consider."

The black button eyes blinked, and the Scottish accent was back as the animatronic asked carefully, "Others? What ye be speaking of, boyo?" Most people didn't know that the units were self-aware and fully capable of acting on their own. The three men facing the tiny toy cat were among the few that did. That knowledge was the only reason Cloud had risked grabbing hold of the animatronic even though they weren't sure who was in control of him at that time.

" _Hush, Cait Sith. There isn't time to assuage your curiosity right now. And I can probably give you a couple days, but no longer. I'll send unit seven to guard you until then. It would be best if you don't communicate with him at all - just know he's there and watching. He'll only contact you if something threatens."_ There was a pause before Reeve spoke again. _"I'm going to suggest that you speak with Tseng during that time. I know it's a risk, but he seems determined to help you. All the other_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _s were able to get out of Midgar almost_ before _the warrants were issued, and I can't think of any other way they would have known what was coming without the Turks' assistance."_

Zack took a deep breath before saying in a low tone, "Understood. We'll take that into consideration." Despite the seriousness of the situation, he had to smile when he noticed Cloud was quietly dusting off the cat, then pulled a cloth from his pocket and wiped off the tiny crown before settling it back between Cait Sith's ears. "If you're finished with your housekeeping…"

The cat purred from the attention, swiping its face against Cloud's wrist before heading off.

Putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder to keep him from rising, Kunsel gave Zack the beady eye as he said, "And we need to discuss those _others_ Cloud mentioned." Ignoring the harsh look given him, Kunsel continued, "They need to be told what's going on. I understand why you don't want to, since the knowledge alone could land them in a life or death situation with regards to ShinRa. But we can't just leave them here - to do so would be tantamount to murder. And I owe them too much to even consider that course of action."

Cloud's brows were furrowed. "What are you talking about, Kunsel?"

"Our glorious leader has so far refused to tell the women that saved our lives about the situation. They're totally in the dark about ShinRa's actions and our responses to it. As I said, I understand that he's trying to protect them, thinking that the less they know the better. But Hojo's involvement changes everything - for the worse."

Trying for patience, Zack started, "Look, you two, it's…"

"No," Cloud said firmly, accepting Kunsel's assistance as he stood up and winced. The stitch in his side was still stabbing diligently away. "We tell them." Ignoring Zack's furious glare, he turned and headed back into the church. "Our honor, Zack. We don't protect the innocent by keeping them ignorant."


	5. Chapter 5: Finally getting the story

**A/N:** Oh, how gleefully I am warping, distorting, or just flat-out changing so many aspects of the Final Fantasy VII storyline - and its characters. I can't understand how I get so much enjoyment out of such angst. Must be a fault in one my personalities somewhere.

And although I wasn't personally affected by all the horrendous flooding from Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina, none of the local libraries have been open for me to post an update on any of my stories. Sorry about that…

 **Chapter Summary:** The **SOLDIER** s finally break down and tell the women all that has happened. The tale is an incredible one, filled with battles against the evil corporation and their desperate attempt to save lives. They can't help but think it sounds more like an epic movie or video game than real life. In the end, Cloud invites them to accompany the **SOLDIER** s when they leave Midgar. And while the women struggle over the decision to go with them or not, Tseng has an encounter with Cait Sith and Reeve Tuesti he's not likely to forget anytime soon as the Director of Urban Development succeeds in out-Turking the Turk…

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 5: Finally getting the story…**

The quiet that settled into the church after the **SOLDIER** s' return was not peaceful. Questions seethed in the air as evening descended, leaving the women huddled over Starr's moonstone, faces bathed in the eerily faint illumination. The loss of light heralded the loss of heat as well, and the gloom became chilled very quickly.

While the men cleaned up, treated more of their wounds and gratefully changed into the clean clothing purchased by Tifa and Starr, the women finished organizing the new supplies between themselves and reluctantly began the process of packing up their few personal belongings.

Tifa Lockhart glanced over at the trio of men as she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders against the cold that seemed to creep across the floor from the stream. While a part of her knew they weren't at fault for their trespass into the sanctuary, the rest of her resented the invasion. This serene church was responsible for awakening Aerith Gainsborough's innate healing ability, allowed Tifa to finally come to terms with her tumultuous relationship with her father, and given Starr Sapphire the chance to open herself up to something more than just survival.

No, the men weren't to blame for the sequence of events leading up to that moment. But the results made it harder for her to be objective about the outcome. In the few short days of their occupation the church had become a home. Now, to save themselves, it would have to be abandoned.

"Cloud is really in pain," Aerith said quietly. There was worry in her tone, and considering her deep distrust of men, the fact she fretted so over the young **SOLDIER** was a surprise to her.

Tifa could see that Aerith was correct. The man's movements were stilted and jerky as opposed to the fluid grace of the other two. His pale blonde hair glimmered in what little light remained, allowing her to keep track of him much easier than his darker haired companions. The gestures he made toward Zack and Kunsel were abrupt as he paced back and forth, and something about the set of his shoulders, the tilt of his head indicated they were arguing.

She found it more than a little scary that she couldn't hear either his footsteps or his words.

On the other side of her Starr was sitting cross-legged, hands resting on her knees. "He's managing it, Aerith." Rubbing the side of her face, she commented lightly, "You should have seen him sprint into the tunnel from outside. Talk about _fast_." Craning her neck, she could just make out the motionless form of Kunsel sitting on Zack's right. "I'm rooting for Golden-eyes right now, since you said he doesn't like Zack keeping us in the dark."

Aerith turned her head to look at Starr, amused at her words. "Golden-eyes?" she repeated carefully.

"Hey, there's no reason they can't have nicknames just like us. You're the Flower Girl. Tifa is the Cook. I'm the Imp." There was no objection to her nickname whatsoever and that tickled Starr. "So. Kunsel is Golden-eyes."

"And Cloud?" Tifa asked, curious as to what her friend would label the blonde **SOLDIER**. Not that she cared, she hastily assured herself.

"Angel?" Aerith suggested with her infectiously wicked smile.

That got a snort from Starr. " _None_ of them are angels no matter how they look. I teased Cloud in the tunnel and got a raised eyebrow in reply that left me feeling singed." Tapping a finger on her lips, she mused, "He's so quiet. Zack always has something to say and Kunsel will jump in whenever the conversation warrants it, but Cloud watches and… catalogs everything. Still-waters," she decided. "Yes, Still-waters is fitting. Quiet and deceptively innocent."

 _Still waters are often dangerous because you can't tell how deep they are until you're already in over your head_ , Tifa thought with a shiver. Giving herself a shake, she pointed out, "And that just leaves Zack." Trying to pick him out of the shadows was difficult because of his dark hair.

"Puppy," came the unexpected answer from the pacing figure. "His mentor Angeal Hewley wished for a leash or a dog crate more than once during training. And we usually refer to Kunsel as either Dictionary or Encyclopedia since he absorbs knowledge like a sponge every chance he gets."

Kunsel leaned forward, those glimmering eyes twinkling with mischief. "And when Cloud is being really irritating -like right now- we call him Chocobo-head." That earned him a growl from the blonde **SOLDIER** even as the women started giggling. "His hair is still a little flat right at the moment, but once it fluffs up you'll be able to see it's uncanny resemblance to the backside of a chocobo."

The giggles were still floating in the air as Zack rose to his feet and approached the group of females. "You can stop rooting for Kunsel; Cloud browbeats a lot more effectively. He's quiet until there's a point to be made." Squaring his shoulders, he motioned toward the tight circle they sat in and asked, "Permission to join you?"

Still filled with the warmth of laughter, the three women nodded and shifted so the men could sit down.

Once settled, Zack ran a hand over the back of his neck and gave quiet warning, "It's a really long story." The dark strands of his black hair were starting to frame his face in feathery arcs along his cheeks, softening his jaw line and making his nearly-violet eyes stand out all the more. The rest of his hair seemed to have a life of its own as it drifted at the slightest movement or breeze. The mad spikes sticking up every which a way were nearly a match for Cloud's unruly hairstyle.

Kunsel cleared his throat slightly. "If you wouldn't object, I could give a brief summary for right now. Details can wait for a more opportune time."

Nodding, Cloud said in his quiet fashion, "It would be for the best. There are some choices to be made, and I want them fully informed of the situation before speaking of the problems facing us." There was steel in the sensual voice, and both of his companions wore expressions of resignation on hearing the tone. Apparently, once Cloud made up his mind there was no changing it, and a waste of time trying to challenge whatever actions he deemed necessary.

"Problems?" Starr questioned, leaning forward to stare intently at the three in front of her.

The hand Kunsel raised stopped her from speaking further. "Just listen first, Imp."

"Sure thing, Encyclopedia boy," was her prompt reply.

Kunsel groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I'm hurting you at the first available opportunity," he warned Cloud. His attempt at humor seemed to fall flat; the only answers he received were a sharpening of the incredibly blue eyes and a tired sigh from Zack.

Rolling his shoulders to release tension, Kunsel started explaining all that had happened since that frantic phone call at two in the morning, phrasing everything much like a military report. Tifa had no problems with the jargon but Aerith and Starr interrupted a few times, asking for clarification about certain obscure idioms. Though he spoke concisely, it still took considerable time to work his way through to the present moment.

When he was finally finished, Zack collected some cups and got water for everyone. The pause gave them all the chance to mentally digest the information, even the **SOLDIER** s. With the events coming one upon another so rapidly, there hadn't been time to really consider exactly what was going on.

The three women were of one accord about what Kunsel related - it sounded like something out of an adventure movie or a video game, not real life.

Tifa blew out a breath and murmured, "Well. Wow. I can't… I mean… You know, if I hadn't actually seen the three of you fall from the plate into Aerith's flowerbed, I would probably think you're leading me on. But you aren't, are you? As fantastical as all that sounded, it's what really happened."

Staring at men she had considered little better than the monsters lurking in the shadows between the Sectors, Starr experienced a moment of vertigo as she tried to come to terms with the truths revealed. These men, no matter who or what they might be, were heroes in every sense of the word. The most mind-numbing aspect of the tale was the simple fact they didn't think they had done anything out of the ordinary. Someone _had_ to act before hundreds of people were killed. So, they acted. As far as they were concerned, that was the end of the story.

There was a frown on Aerith's face as she struggled to recall something long forgotten. "Hojo," she said quietly, and fought to conceal the unexplained shudder of apprehension at the name. "I've heard of him before, I think. Who is he?"

Zack leaned forward, his expression intense. "You have? Aerith, he's one of the head scientists at ShinRa and is largely responsible for the success of the **SOLDIER** program. But from our dealings with the man, we know he is damn near insane and totally unethical in his pursuit to engineer the perfect warrior." He would have said more but Cloud reached out and touched his arm.

"Not now. We'll get into that when there's more time." Turning back to the women, Cloud said, "What we have to decide is what to do now. With the information imparted by Reeve we have at least an inkling of ShinRa's plans. The safest course will be to leave Midgar altogether and regroup in a different location." He quietly gestured toward the women and added, "And you need to get out as well. It won't be safe here much longer, not with ShinRa so determined to find us. You're welcome to come with us." The offer was made hesitantly, and both Zack and Kunsel looked as unsure as Cloud sounded about the invitation.

Accompany the **SOLDIER** s during their flight from Midgar?

The offer startled the women. It had never occurred to them that their association with the **SOLDIER** s would be anything more than temporary.

Unable to remaining sitting still any longer, Tifa jumped to her feet and started pacing back and forth, much as Cloud had earlier. She was painfully aware the discovery of the church was the only reason they were still alive. Although they had weapons and materia as well as some training, none of them were prepared for the world facing them. How would they cope once they escaped from Midgar?

Glancing toward the men sitting silently across from her, Starr pointed out, "Even if we choose to go with you, how can we possibly leave the city at this time? There is no way any of you could make it through the gates without bringing every infantryman the company has under its command down on your heads."

Kunsel spoke up, holding out his hands as though offering the suggestion. "Reeve advised contacting Tseng through the Cait Sith unit that's guarding the church right now. If the Turks helped the other **SOLDIER** s escape ShinRa's grasp, as he suspects, it could be the best opportunity available to us."

"Even though Reno and Rude tried to _kill_ you?" Aerith rapped out with commendable ire.

There was a quirky little smile on Zack's face as he admitted, "It's not the first time we've run afoul of that organization. Turks and **SOLDIER** s have a long history of cooperation and rivalry, most of it depending on the political atmosphere within ShinRa at the time. This latest attempt was by far the most serious, though." He frowned, remembering Reno's quiet lament of, _Don't like these orders, yo_. Cloud had sworn repeatedly that he saw regret on the Turk's face before he triggered the catwalk to collapse.

Something moved in Kunsel's eyes as he abruptly stood and began looking at the ceiling intently. He turned back to the women and asked, "Is there a way onto the roof?"

Confused, Starr nonetheless pointed out a dark archway to the left. "Through there. The ladder that's attached to the rafters is falling apart, though. It's not safe to climb anymore."

Kunsel waved that off as of no concern as he disappeared from sight.

"Golden-eyes likes to play leap-frog with his thoughts," Cloud said blandly. "He'll circle around and explain once he realizes he's left us behind."

Aerith tilted her head as she gazed at Cloud. "So at least some of the rumors are true. You _do_ have enhanced senses."

"Sight, hearing, smell - and I can tell you that an enhanced sense of smell can be a serious pain in the posterior at times," Zack said with a grin. "And because taste is naturally amplified by smell, that sense was affected, too, even though it wasn't intentional."

Returning the smile, Tifa joked softly, "Well, four out of five isn't so bad."

A slight creak was all the warning they had before Kunsel came tumbling through the crumbling roof near the flowerbed. Zack moved so fast he was a blur as he leaped, soaring at least ten meters into the air, arms outstretched to catch the falling figure. There was a grunt on impact, then he landed with a thud that shook the entire church, Kunsel safely cradled against his chest.

Three silver shadows had followed the **SOLDIER** s down and now surrounded them, glinting in the faint lighting as they speared up among Aerith's much-abused lilies. A second later a dull thud sounded as something else plopped nearby.

There was a choked laugh from Kunsel as Zack abruptly dropped him in the dirt and lunged for one of the metallic objects. Rising to his feet, he ruefully rubbed his backside as he watched his friend examining his sword much as a man might a lover after a long separation. "Oh, great. My hero throws me over for his weapon without so much as a backwards glance." He bent and retrieved the last object to fall - it was a small backpack, wet and bedraggled.

Cloud was chuckling as he rose and walked over to inspect his own blade, taking some care to step around the surviving flowers. Kunsel tossed the strap of the pack over his shoulder and yanked a curious-looking device out of the ground - it seemed equal parts sword and shotgun.

Everything happened so fast it took the women a moment to process. In one quick, lightning fast sequence, they were shown just what these men were capable of in vivid detail. The speed as Zack moved, the incredible height he achieved during the leap, the fact he caught Kunsel in midair and landed on his feet with no further injuries to either of them…

They also had to contend with the hilarious sight of Zack laughing and hugging his sword close, babbling that Angeal no longer had any reason to hunt him down and kill him for losing the ancient blade.

Was it any wonder they were shocked immobile?

 **And deep within Turk headquarters…**

Tseng sat glaring at the tiny animatronic perched jauntily on his desk. Through gritted teeth he snapped in an ominous tone, "Repeat that once more?"

"The laddies be alive, though a mite injured. I spied bullet wounds on Fair and Moreno, but Cloud… The boyo be in considerable difficulties. They has found a tidy hideout and be tucked into it all nice and proper." Cait Sith 2 almost glowed with happiness at the report. Which was saying something, as dirty and tattered as he appeared at the moment.

Reaching for what little patience he had left, Tseng ordered quietly, "Tell me where they are located. _Now_."

Impossible as it might seem, the black button eyes took on a stubborn look. "Nay, I'll not tell ye until Reeve be assured ye mean the laddies no harm. I'll not be betraying their trust in such a fashion." A faint crackle sounded, then another voice entered the conversation. _"I warned you that I won't be a pawn in this game, Tseng, nor will I allow you use the_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _s as such. They are alive and mostly well, and that information will have to content you for the time being."_

Shoving angrily away from his desk, he paced back and forth before the glass wall of his office that overlooked Midgar. "You don't understand what's going on. There's too much at stake to play foolish games." Unaware of his actions, the leader of the Turks rubbed at his aching wrists without thought.

" _I'm not playing a game; I'm trying desperately to save their lives. What is Hojo up to, Tseng? Why the new lab and equipment, and an allotted budget nearly ten times the usual amount? Why were the orders to only_ capture _-not kill-_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _s if ShinRa thinks they are too powerful and too dangerous to control any longer, as the warrants claimed?"_ There was a pause before Reeve tossing in his most valuable card. _"And why did Rufus order your operatives to assist in plate-fall using your own computer and personal codes?"_

Snarling oaths in Wutaian, Tseng whirled on the Cait Sith unit that sat facing him so calmly. "I don't know! There, does that satisfy you? I don't _know_ what game Rufus is playing, but it wouldn't be the first time he's tried to overthrow his father to gain control of this company."

" _So he's the one behind the smoke and mirrors this time, eh? Did he order your capture to give him free reign with the Turks? And don't try to deny it,"_ Reeve's voice warned when Tseng looked outraged. _"Your wrists are still bruised from the handcuffs and that suit is almost a size too big right now from sudden weight loss."_

Tseng pulled out the desk chair and slumped into it. There was only one way to reason with Reeve Tuesti, he knew. If he didn't trade information, he would never find out where the men were hidden. And time was of the essence. "Alright, Reeve. I'll tell you what I know - in exchange for the **SOLDIER** s' location."

" _No deal, not until I understand better what is going on."_ And Cait Sith backed up the words by crossing his arms over his chest and remaining stubbornly silent.

From the sour expression on his face, Tseng had expected that answer. Turning away, he gazed out the window and sighed. "Hojo thinks he's found a way to make an even more powerful class of **SOLDIER** , one that can be more easily controlled than the current group. The project is called _Deepground_ , because the initial studies were done secretly in chambers deep beneath the city. Only a few in ShinRa were aware of what he was doing. Everything went haywire when Rufus somehow discovered the research. I don't even know for sure if President ShinRa is aware of it yet." He rubbed at his bruised wrists again, "I was held in those underground caverns until I managed to escape." He paused thoughtfully. "And once I was finally in a position to try to free myself, it was entirely too easy to slip out and make for the surface. I think one of his own test subjects aided me, although I have no actual proof and don't want to put them in jeopardy by trying to find out."

The Cait Sith unit piped up, "When did ye get loose, lad?"

"Just before plate-fall. The warrants for the **SOLDIER** s were coming through when I arrived at my office." He rubbed at his face wearily. "It was a mad scramble trying to warn all of them. I had every agent working to pass the word, and even revealed some of my most well-placed covert operatives when I ran out of available personnel. Fair, Moreno and Strife were the only ones I couldn't get to in time with the warning. They were too surrounded by infantrymen for the agents to reach them, troopers under the command of some captain that decided to throw in his lot with the trio. I found out about their plans to attack Reactor 5 through sources I'm not prepared to reveal to you at this juncture, and sent Reno and Rude in to assist however they could."

" _And you consider breaking the catwalk underneath them_ assistance _?!"_ The incredulous tone was mirrored by Cait Sith's unbelieving snort as the animatronic unfolded his arms and glared at the Turk.

His grim smile showed he was well aware of Reeve's sarcasm, and amused by the tiny toy's ire. "When Reno and Rude discovered them pinned down in an alcove, they arranged for a mild explosion as a diversion to help them slip out. But just before it went off, the group AVALANCHE detonated a bomb in the core in retaliation for ShinRa dropping the plate. By the time they reached the **SOLDIER** s all avenues were cut off - there was an entire infantry division waiting behind my agents. Fair and company would have run right into them if they had managed to make it past Reno. Breaking the catwalk was the only way to get them out of the reactor, and I had to make it a direct order before they would follow through - and they still protested." Tseng's voice took on an edge of conviction as he said firmly, "Better them dead than handed to Hojo alive. Harsh, yes. But I know what Strife was put through in that lab in Nibelheim, and I have no intentions of allowing that to happen again - to _any_ of the **SOLDIER** s. I knew the chances of them surviving the fall into the slums were marginal, but it was the best option my agents had at the time."

The sound of a sigh came from the speaker in Cait Sith's chest. _"Harsh, yes. But as much as I would like to say differently, I have to agree. What are your plans now? And if they ask for aid, can you help them?"_

Tseng sat thoughtful and silent for some time before answering. "Though we weren't aware of Hojo's plans at the time Cissnei transported Cloud to Nibelheim, I was suspicious of the summons. He wasn't the only infantryman suddenly recalled to that little town in the mountains. But I never followed through on those doubts. Strife paid for my lapse with nearly a year of his life, all of it spent in absolute hell while that demented Hojo used him like a damn lab rat. I can't let it happen again, not and survive with my soul intact; it's tattered enough through service to ShinRa as it is. Yes, Reeve. I'll find a way to help them." He looked on without a smile as Cait Sith danced joyously across his desktop. "But let's make one thing very clear, Tuesti. Once they leave Midgar, the situation is completely out of my hands. From that point on, all of **SOLDIER** will become the focus of a world-wide manhunt that will never cease until they are captured or dead - or ShinRa is no longer in power."

The little toy cat hunched in on himself, apprehensive over the import of Tseng's words.

Reeve took a moment before speaking. _"I… understand. But I think the chance to escape is all they really need. I have no doubts about their resourcefulness or ingenuity."_ There was another pause, during which Tseng later swore he could _feel_ Reeve's grin, _"There is also much to be said for sheer, dumb luck."_

The head of the Turks was startled to find himself laughing. "The very definition of Zack Fair, to be sure. Kunsel is all details and information while Cloud is quiet deliberation and caution. Combined they made a formidable group." He made a shooing motion towards Cait Sith and commanded, "Go clean yourself up. You're leaving dusty paw prints all over my paperwork."

"Och, lad. Mind ye manners or ye'll be spinning about in _Confuse._ Reeve, who do I contact should the laddies chose to speak to me dear other self?" Cait Sith was bristling at Tseng's casual dismissal.

" _Me first, Cait. I'll let Tseng know when the_ _ **SOLDIER**_ _s are good and ready."_

"You're pushing your luck, Tuesti," Tseng growled.

" _Perhaps. But you'll not have the upper hand in this game just yet, Turk."_ And Reeve cut the connection, leaving behind the grinning Cait Sith, who leaped off the Turk's desk and scampered away even before Tseng could rise to his feet.

 **Decision time, with a vengeance…**

"Okay," Starr said quietly, eyeing the men as they went about setting up a kind of camp in front of the tunnel that led to the outside. "We need to have a nice, long discussion about what we're going to do." She gestured to Tifa and Aerith, saying as she did, "And we need to be as honest with each other as we can. The situation we're in now is a lot more dangerous than anything we've faced before."

Settling down on Starr's right side, Tifa took a deep breath before she started talking. "You're right. Of course, you're right. And I really don't know where to start, either. There's so much whirling around in my brain it's hard to know how to begin." Clasping her hands in her lap, she gave a sigh and tried to sum up her feelings. "I guess I thought that once they were healed enough, the **SOLDIER** s would leave and it would be over. We could go back to our lives in this peaceful place and continue as before. But that's not an option now. That Cait Sith thing knows not only where the church is, but can probably find the entrance now. So it's not safe here anymore."

There was a bitter tone to Aerith's voice as she snapped out, "It hasn't been a safe place since they fell from the plate."

"But that wasn't their fault, Aerith. The Turks were trying to kill them." Tifa gently laid a hand over the healer's and reminded, "And they would have succeeded if we hadn't intervened. Cloud would have certainly died, and I'm not sure Kunsel would have made it without all those _Cures_ Starr cast. Zack was the only one not critically injured in the fall and even he was pretty bad off."

Aerith gave a snort and muttered, "He's too hardheaded to bow to common sense."

Chuckling, Starr replied, "They all are. You heard their story."

The grimace on Aerith's face was comical in the faint light of the moonstone. "And now we have to decide if we're capable of putting up with their hardheadedness on a daily basis, or strike out on our own."

Tifa shook her head. "It's not that cut and dried. The offer was to accompany them when they left Midgar. Nothing was mentioned after that, so I suspect we'll be on our own once we're out of the city."

While Aerith mulled that over, Starr thoughtfully spoke up. "Don't be too sure, Tifa." At the questioning looks cast her way, she tried to explain, "It's just… I saw Cloud's face when he was arguing with Zack and Kunsel earlier. Zack has admitted to feeling protective about us -at least with regards to Aerith- but Kunsel and Cloud seem to have taken it a step further. This is just a feeling, mind; just an impression I'm getting. We've become a responsibility to those two. Part of that is probably gratitude - they were the ones badly injured and our efforts saved their lives. I can accept that they want to return the favor. But I'm getting the sense that something else is also motivating them, and _that_ has me puzzled."

Ducking her head was the only way Tifa could hide her smug smile.

The move caused Aerith to drill a finger into her side and demand, "Out with it, Cookie. Just what does that knowing grin of yours mean?"

"The two of you have been sheltered most of your lives," Tifa started, and shook her head at Starr before she could disagree. "I'm not talking about protectively. I mean you have had very little contact with anyone outside of your guardian's chosen circle. But I've been a waitress in a bar for nearly four years now. I know all the signs and signals when a guy is flirting with me. Most are pretty blatant and obvious, and make you want to turn around and slap the crap out of them. They think they are so attractive and irresistible when they are just plain rude and obnoxious." She glanced over her shoulder to watch as Kunsel shook out his bedding with a crisp snap and settled it down on the square tarp already laid out on the dusty floor of the church. "This bunch? The interest is there, it's just hard to tell if they're being really, really subtle… or they are simply clueless."

That startled a laugh out of her friends. "Subtle isn't a word I would use to describe Zack Fair!" Aerith managed to giggle out. "And although I'm not sure about Kunsel, I have to admit that clueless might be a fair description of Cloud."

"He's not," Starr said firmly. "I told you about that raised eyebrow in the tunnel. I thought at first he was our age, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. A nineteen year old kid wouldn't know how to browbeat Zack into something he was against."

The silence lingered for some time before Aerith asked in a hushed tone, "Should we go with them?"

Tifa leaned towards her and replied with a question of her own, "Can you?" Reaching out, she managed to catch her arm before the healer could turn away. "Your answer is crucial to us, Flower Girl. Of all of us, the mental and physical warfare waged against your stepfather's abuse is probably the most traumatic out of all our situations. Although I was beaten almost every day, I never had to worry about being violated." She looked at Starr, "You've said little about what you've gone through in the foster system. Please don't think that whatever you've suffered isn't important, because it _is_."

"Not as much as you might think." She held up a hand when they would have protested, "No, really. I learned to suppress emotions very early on in my life. It was a survival tactic, and it held me in good stead for years. It worked well enough that there was a part of me that was shocked when I was able to respond to the two of you." She shrugged philosophically, "But my abuse was systematically administered to make me automatically obey any order given by what I was taught to recognize as authority. There was no attachment to me; they didn't hate me or anything, didn't hit or starve me because of bruised egos or some warped sense of propriety. They just wanted me as docile as possible so they could sell me to the highest bidder. I was nothing more than a product to them, not a person. The abuse was impersonal, and I knew there was nothing wrong with _me_ that caused them to act as they did. They had an agenda, and they were forcing me to adhere to it."

Both Tifa and Aerith reared back upon hearing this. Several minutes passed as they thought of her generosity, that wicked sense of humor, and the touching sensitivity that led her to accept them as friends, and even help that grumpy old shopkeeper clean up his store after the explosions. Her foster parents had tried -and thankfully failed- to destroy all that? Had tried to beat and starve it out of her?

Starr's matter-of-fact tone about her situation nearly broke their hearts, and she abruptly found herself wound tightly in a group hug that threatened to crack her ribs. "Okay, okay! Off! Lemme go, you two nuts!" There were tears and giggles and a few sniffles before she finally won free. Huffing in exasperation, she straightened her coat and ran nervous fingers through her blue-black hair, causing it to spike up even worse than Cloud's. "The two of you are the limit sometimes." The complaint did nothing to hide the blush that painted a red smear over both cheeks.

"But cute," Aerith pointed out charmingly.

"Evil," was Starr's quick singsong return.

"We're cute evil," Tifa amended with a laugh. _**Phrase coined by TamLin, in her wonderful 'Tales Within Tales' story.**_

The shockingly electric blue eyes narrowed, signaling louder than words that Tifa and Aerith were long overdue for some good, old fashion revenge - and would receive that just reward the minute they let their guard down. Then she gave herself an all-over shake and plopped back down to sit cross-legged on the worn flooring. "All this teasing aside, I'd like to tell you my opinion." With their nods, she continued, "I would like to go with them. From that wonderful little demonstration Zack provided prior to making up with his long-lost and obviously _very_ beloved sword-" that produced quite a few giggles "-I know they can protect us. Because we can't."

Aerith sputtered while Tifa glared at her, "Starr…"

"No. Listen to me. You know how desperate things were before we found this place. How we had to mount guards and always stay in the shadows, only moving when no one else was around. And we all racked up a lot of cuts and bruises learning to fight the monsters slithering around. Finding this place was a godsend, because we were exhausted from staying vigilant all the time." They nodded, remembering all the fear and tension of those few days. "It doesn't matter if the guys never set foot outside the church, the people in this area are going to put two and two together. ShinRa is very thorough. That shopkeeper will be questioned because he's in this sector, and he's going to remember what we purchased. He would probably sell his own grandmother if it would earn him a gil or two, and it won't even muss the three hairs still remaining on his head to turn us over to the company."

Sighing, Aerith turned to check on the guys. They were sitting in a loose circle, cleaning the swords resting in their laps. There was a sense of easy camaraderie in the small gathering, and the only one that seemed tense was Cloud. Though he was obviously healing at an incredible rate, every once in a while he would move without caution and end up jerking in pain as he over-extended. Zack instinctively winced every time it happened, and Kunsel would pause if he was speaking until he was sure Cloud was okay.

"I've never thought of leaving Midgar. It's always been my world, bad or not. But as long as I'm here, there is always the chance my stepfather will find me again. I don't think Duncan could force me to go back with him, but I would rather not risk that possibility." She looked back at the two sitting with her. What bound them together so tightly, so quickly upon meeting was the abuse they had suffered - all at the hands of a man that had total domination over them. "It scares me, the thought of leaving this place. And… well…" Gathering her strength, knowing they would understand, she admitted, "If we go with them, it gives them control over us."

Starr's usually snapping blue eyes went dark and anxious, but Tifa couldn't stop the snort. These men, enhanced or not, were an entirely different breed from her father. "Really? When Zack and Kunsel just stood there hanging their heads while you shouted at them?"

Kunsel's fall from the roof had taken out nearly a square meter of the flowerbed, along with the damage caused by the descent of their massive swords. Zack's gleeful dance with his weapon hadn't helped the poor bedraggled blooms very much, either. Aerith might fear men and their motives, but the wanton destruction of her much-loved flowers had released a flood of vitriol upon Zack and Kunsel that had them hunching their shoulders and shuffling their feet like little boys caught raiding the cookie jar.

"That _was_ funny. These strong, invincible warriors shrinking away from this dainty little Flower Girl while she hollers at them. Cloud was standing off to the side trying his best not to laugh," Tifa reminisced with a grin. "At least he took the care not to step on any when he collected his sword."

When the laughter faded, Starr posed the question again. "Do we go with them?"

Tifa nodded.

Aerith sighed wearily, but nodded as well.

Starr looked relieved. "All in favor. That's good. That's really good."

 **And on the other side of the church…**

Trying not to hear the conversation between the women, Zack concentrated on cleaning and polishing the Buster Sword. There were a few small nicks in the blade he couldn't repair right at that moment, but overall it was in good shape. He was relieved the weapon hadn't taken any more harm in its fall from the upper plate.

Kunsel was having a bit more trouble with his gunblade. Part of the trigger mechanism was jammed up, and though he'd worked patiently for nearly half an hour, he still hadn't nudged it free. Rummaging around in his recovered goody bag, he pulled out several items and laid them down. After studying them, he switched tools and went back at it again, swearing softly under his breath.

The barracks oaths being muttered had Zack's lips twitching upward in a wry smile. That such a highly educated man like Kunsel would stoop to using vile imprecations when vexed never ceased to amuse him.

Both were feeling a bit envious of Cloud. His Fusion Sword gleamed razor sharp in the dim lighting, without a single imperfection showing on any of the blades. He had briefly separated, then reattached all six parts that formed the massive weapon just to be sure he hadn't missed anything.

When Kunsel suddenly dropped the gunblade to bury his face in his hands, both jumped.

"Kunsel?" Cloud asked, setting his sword aside and leaning forward in alarm. The move had him jerking as the stitch in his side stabbed fiercely, but he disregarded the pain in his concern for his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Kunsel straightened up and said in a low voice, "I know I shouldn't, but I've been listening to them talk. Don't blast me, Zack. I found out a few things we really need to know. Starr must be an orphan. Apparently she was in the foster system, and her guardians intended to sell her to the highest bidder. They beat and starved her, trying to break her spirit." Ignoring the outrage showing in his companions' eyes, he continued, "Tifa says she was beaten nearly every day but wasn't threatened with violation like Aerith - and Aerith was battling her _stepfather_."

Zack had to consciously release his tight grip on the Buster Sword's handle before he dented the metal. Suddenly the bruises on Aerith's wrists made sense, and he deeply regretted confronting her over them. But it explained why the women were so leery. Their fear wasn't over the fact they were **SOLDIER** ; they were scared of them because they were _men_.

In a helpless tone of voice, Cloud asked no one in particular, "How can we possibly overcome that?" Though he tried, he couldn't stop himself from looking over, his eyes immediately searching out Tifa. Even in the faint lighting, his eyesight was sharp enough to pick out the swaying earrings glimmering against her long, dark brown hair. She was speaking animatedly to her two friends, and the graceful motions of the slender arms and her expressive hands made his throat go dry.

How could anyone hurt her? What kind of a monster would raise his hand and hit such a woman?

Rubbing at a sudden headache, Zack noticed where Cloud's gaze rested but decided against teasing him about it. The sound of Aerith's soft but wicked laughter floating across the church and had him all but shivering. His thoughts were along the same lines as Cloud's as he studied all three of the brave, resilient women sitting by the small stream. None of them should know pain or fear. None of them should be touched with anger or hatred. And none of them should be treated with indifference or disrespect.

Kunsel summed everything up nicely when he stated, "Well, they are with us now. And I don't know about the two of you, but I fully intend to stand between them and anything that would try to hurt them." He watched in amusement as Tifa and Aerith -for whatever reason- suddenly sandwiched Starr between them. The Imp tolerated it, but wiggled free of their grasp fairly quickly. When she stood up and raked her fingers through her short black hair, he had to stomp on the sudden urge to gently smooth those jagged spikes back down.

Cloud had the last word, however. "If they will let us, Kunsel. They aren't delicate damsels in distress waiting for Prince Charming to arrive. Step in at the wrong moment and you may find yourself in a world of hurt. Whoever abused them would be shocked to realize they helped turn them into strong, determined women that will not bow lightly to anyone." He glanced at the flowerbed to make his point.

In response, both Zack and Kunsel ducked their heads, remembering all too well Aerith's irate words over the smashed flowers…


	6. Chapter 6: Who knew introspection

**A/N:** Okay, time for some mayhem and madness. As I haven't played Crisis Core to know any different, the impression I've always had of Zack Fair is that he's the type of person that doesn't over-think situations too much; he's excitable and impulsive, so he tends to jump right into the thick of things and start swinging away. So I'm gonna give the Puppy a wee bit of a headache _this_ time around…

 **Chapter Summary:** Needing some time to consider the situation, Zack Fair sits just inside the tunnel leading into the church. But Kunsel approaches him with a shocking request, and the Cait Sith unit guarding the church interrupts their argument. When the animatronic returns to the ShinRa tower and reports, Reeve ends up calling the head of the Turks into his office and confronting him over what he finds in the records. But Tseng knows where the men are hiding now and leaves, though he does promise to explain things to Reeve in the morning. Later, Tseng himself confronts them…

 **Escape**

By Ivy Elise Tanté

 **Chapter 6: Who knew introspection caused headaches?**

Slipping into the tunnel from the church hidden in the Sector 5 slums, Zack carefully picked his way to the concealed entrance and settled himself down as comfortably as possible. Cloud and Kunsel were still inside, helping Starr finish sorting and dividing their supplies while Tifa reheated the stew for a late-night snack. Aerith tenderly worked in her flowerbed again, trying to revive those blooms damaged by the careless feet of the **SOLDIER** s.

Leaning back against the wall of debris, Zack admitted he needed the time to himself. So much had taken place in the past few hours he felt like his head was filled with madly rotating images.

As the silence closed in, his thoughts became clearer as his mind began to sort facts from emotions. What caused such disquiet was the knowledge that ShinRa had not only turned on them, but also set the Turks on his division. Despite the occasional rivalry between the two organizations -sometimes playful, other times not- Zack had counted Tseng as one of his few friends outside of **SOLDIER**. He had even learned to tolerate the insanely chipper Reno and his usual partner, the taciturn Rude.

However, their friendship had not stopped Reno from trying to kill him, as ordered by none other than Tseng himself. That betrayal cut deep into his heart and soul, making it hard to views things with objectivity. Yet he _had_ to get over what had been done and concentrate on whatever steps needed to be taken next. More lives than his own rested in the balance.

While Zack and Kunsel were older than Cloud by two years, the younger man was more clear-sighted than either of his companions. He could see how dangerous their position was now and how that in turn put the women that had saved their lives at a higher risk. Once Hojo and his insane experiments were added to the mix, the situation became even more perilous for all of them.

And the only ones in any position to provide aid was a man the ShinRa Corporation tolerated because of his skill with animatronics, and the leader of the very organization that had tried to kill them. Groaning softly, Zack wearily rubbed at the back of his neck as he attempted to keep focused on the many problems facing them.

First was the urgent need to keep their expanded group safe. To ensure that, Zack was fully prepared to wheel and deal with Tseng through the Cait Sith unit now guarding the church. No price demanded by the Turk would be too high to pay if it got them out of Midgar. Their chances of surviving might be better once they were outside the city, but no place would truly be safe for some time to come. ShinRa had a very long arm, and the term _planet-wide_ was literal, not figurative.

The second problem was supplies. While the women had all they needed for themselves, the addition of the **SOLDIER** s would stretch those thin, and considerable gil had already been spent providing clothes, bedding and medicines. Although Zack didn't consider himself conceited or egotistical, the fact he and his friends were being supported by women on the run from abusive homes strained his sense of honor. A part of him kept insisting he should be taking care of _them_ , not the other way around.

And yet they had handled the situation competently so far, and with little fanfare.

Other problems included how they were to leave Midgar when the city was essentially in lockdown, what transportation might be needed to get them to their destination - whenever they finally got around to deciding on one. And even after escaping the confines of the city, they still had to worry over how they could sustain themselves and yet keep hidden from the many enemies pursuing them.

Groaning again, this time over the headache forming right between his eyes, Zack gave into temptation and buried his face in his hands. This type of situation was so new to him. Never before had he been required to worry about anyone but himself and his fellow **SOLDIER** s. And **SOLDIER** s were pretty much self-sufficient to the point of bull-headed stubbornness.

Leaning his head back against the crumbling marble column behind him, he closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings in an effort to further calm and make sense of his scattered thoughts. The smell of dust and decay filtered through as everything within him started to still. Grease, rusted metal, the reek of poorly drained cesspools and the dank air itself made themselves known as he slipped into a near-trance.

 _Hojo_ …

The name fluttered up from some hidden well inside him and made him flinch. Opening his eyes again, he reluctantly faced the fear he'd been trying to avoid ever since hearing Reeve's report through Cait Sith.

The scientist was insane - completely and totally deranged. Zack had little doubt of this fact, especially after reading Cloud's dry and impersonal account of what had been done to him while held captive in the basement laboratory in Nibelheim. The sense of horror wasn't from the words written, but from what lay between the lines. The pain and the agony he endured during the experimentation still came through loud and clear.

The state of Cloud's wrists and ankles had showed just how tightly he'd been bound while Hojo conducted his work. It was evident the Professor did everything he could to make each procedure as long and torturous as possible, and that he absolutely _reveled_ in the sight of his victims bleeding and writhing helplessly as he cut and sliced into them.

None of Cloud's wounds -surgical or otherwise- had been healed with materia. There were signs of a few stitches here and there, but most had been bandaged haphazardly and left to either close on their own, or seep and fester. Many of them were infected by the time Cloud escaped and stumbled his way through the hot and dusty canyons to stagger up the steps carved into the mountainside just outside Cosmo Canyon.

Zack curled in on himself. Rubbing at tired eyes, he forced himself to remember his own enhancement procedure. It had been painful and frightening, but even now, he could remember both the gentle hands and soft voice of the surgeon operating on him. What would it have been like had it been Professor Hojo and not Dr. Rayleigh? Shuddering, he pushed the thought away, but it continued to haunt him.

If they didn'tget out of Midgar, and soon…

The sound of footsteps interrupted his horrific thoughts. But they were familiar, so Zack relaxed as Kunsel walked up and said quietly, "Wondered where you got off to."

"Just thinking. I do that on rare occasions."

The joke didn't fool Kunsel. Squatting on his heels, he confirmed, "Lot to think about right now. But we need to leave, and quick. We're really pushing our luck staying much longer." The glowing gold flecks in his brown eyes glimmered faintly as he peered around the boulder hiding the entrance to the tunnel. "If we move this rock so it completely blocks the opening, we could grab a couple hours of sleep. Then we need to get out of here."

"I know. How's Cloud?" he asked while pondering what step to take next.

"Sleeping. He sat down on one of the benches to eat and just passed right out before Tifa could bring him the bowl. I asked Starr to use her _Restore_ on him, and then had to teach her how to handle the _Cure3_ option." Despite the dire situation, he couldn't hold down his grin. "She still wasn't prepared for the wallop. For a second there it looked like her eyes were sparking." He glanced at what was nominally his commanding officer and asked frankly, "How's the pain?"

Jolting, Zack sat up from his slouch just a bit too fast and grunted at the aggravating ache from his back. "Manageable. Mention it to anyone and you'll regret it."

The bite in his voice had Kunsel's eyebrows rising. "Testy tonight, aren't we? Tell me and I won't bring it up."

Zack debated for a brief moment then sighed, "Cracked vertebrae, I think. Minor as far as pain goes, but I'm having some trouble with numbness down my left leg. Don't," he warned angrily when Kunsel opened his mouth. "Everything is bad enough as it stands. Don't add to it. And I mean that, Moreno."

Doing some rapid calculating of his own, Kunsel snapped back, "Then let Starr use _Cure3_ on you." When the black-haired **SOLDIER** hesitated, he added, "I convinced her to… hm… I think I termed it 'practice'… on me before moving onto Cloud."

Such sleight of hand was very much a part of Kunsel's character, and Zack grunted over the ploy. "Think she's onto your tricks yet?"

"Don't really know. They are so much more than I originally thought, Zack. I wasn't kidding about being them being strong, but…" He hesitated just a second, "They helped us, even knowing what we are. How many people have we come across during our time as **SOLDIER** s that would do that?"

Looking up at the pinpoint lights decorating the underside of the plate looming above them, Zack admitted, "That would be none. Most are so afraid they can hardly speak when we're around."

"Exactly." They sat in silence for some minutes before Kunsel dared to ask, quietly, "What's bothering you? You don't usually sulk in the dark alone."

Instead of answering, Zack closed his eyes and leaned back again. "I think you can guess."

And that dreaded name echoed in the tight enclosure as Kunsel said, "Hojo." He rolled his shoulders and spat out as well, "Tseng. **SOLDIER**. Reeve. Rufus. ShinRa. This whole blasted scenario!"

Zack had a rueful look on his face as he turned to his childhood friend. "You see too much, Encyclopedia."

Giving a shrug, Kunsel continued, "I'm trying not to remember the report Cloud filled after he came out of the mako poisoning. Gave me nightmares for weeks afterwards."

"You, too, huh?"

A quirky smile appeared. "Yep." The amusement faded completely a second later, "No matter what's been done, we have to shake off the shock and act fast. And if you think our situation is bad, the women are in even more danger."

Zack nodded, and started to speak, "Yeah, I know. If ShinRa finds them here after…"

But Kunsel cut him off, "Not ShinRa. I'm not talking about execution. Think! Just how interesting is Hojo going to find Aerith?"

Suddenly the fear was back, feeling much like a cold slice into his chest that spread unchecked through his system. Uncoiling, Zack found himself snarling out, "If Hojo so much as puts a hand on her…"

Kunsel faced his wrath squarely, his voice cold. "It's going to happen if we don't get out of here. Starr and Tifa, too." Blowing out a breath, he admitted, "Cloud can't go through it again, Zack. His sanity won't hold up to a second round."

Still angry -though not at Kunsel- Zack snapped out, "What would you have me do, then? Take him out myself? Are you actually standing there asking for some kind of suicide pact? To that madman, a dead body is just as good as a live one. Should I just incinerate us all with _Ifrit_ to save us from whatever Hojo plans?"

His friend didn't answer, just stood there looking at him with a tense kind of expectancy.

It knocked Zack back a couple of steps, causing him to raise a hand in defense against the unthinkable suggestion. Whirling around, trying desperately to get his temper under some kind of control, Zack choked out, "Don't ask that of me, Kunsel. Don't even put it into words."

"I am _not_ a monster," Kunsel said with such feeling Zack turned back around to face him. "There are many that view the **SOLDIER** s as such, some even within our own ranks. I will admit we might not be completely human after all that was done to us during the enhancements, but I truly believe the choices we make prove we are not evil, or inhuman." He continued to stare directly into Zack's eyes as he stated, "Hojo will take that away from us if he can. I'd rather be dead than one of his mindless puppets. And before you say anything, I want you to consider that _may_ have been Tseng's reasoning when he ordered Reno and Rude to sabotage the crosswalk."

The silence spun out, broken only by Zack's labored breathing as he struggled to come to terms with what Kunsel was demanding of him. Unable to bear the weight of his friend's stare, he finally looked away, raising his hands to scrub at his face with such force it stung his skin. His breath was still hitching as he turned to speak.

A faint rustle beyond the boulder cut off whatever reply Zack might have made. As both looked towards the sound, Cait Sith's head popped into sight in a rather comical fashion typical of the animatronic. But there was no chipper greeting, no rich Scottish lilt to amuse and entertain. Instead, he crept around the obstacle and raised his white gloved paws in mute appeal.

Sighing, Zack plopped down to sit cross-legged on the ground, which allowed Cait to climb into his lap. Kunsel crouched beside him, gazing at the stuffed toy cat with eyes unbearably sad.

"I'm going to assume you heard at least part of that," Zack guessed.

Cait Sith nodded, black button eyes bleak. "Tis not a thought to be considered, lad. Ye can't be seriously contemplating such action!" Though he kept his voice as quiet as possible, the statement still came out in an agonized wail.

After closing his eyes to gather his thoughts, Zack sighed again and admitted, "Not unless I had no other choice, Cait." Absently stroking the toy cat's back, he informed, "We're going to pull this rock over the opening and try to get some sleep. Hopefully I'll have a better sense of perspective in the morning when we meet Tseng." Gesturing for Cait Sith to move, he rose and nodded to Kunsel.

Waving goodbye, the little animatronic disappeared into the ruins as Kunsel helped Zack to nudge the boulder into place. But on the way back into the church, Kunsel caught Zack's arm and said quietly, "I'm sorry. That was ill-timed and inappropriate." Blowing out a breath, he admitted, "And out of line."

Zack just shrugged, "None of us are thinking clearly right now, Kunsel. I'm hoping some rest will clear out the cobwebs." He rapped a fist against the side of his head. "Brains are still a little scrambled."

"So is everything else," Kunsel muttered as he trailed behind.

 **And as the SOLDIERs try to get some shuteye…**

Cait Sith spent long moments sniffing around the barrier before he sat back, finally convinced the opening was securely hidden. By that time, Unit Nine had arrived and was looking at him curiously, tail lazily flicking back and forth. "What be up, mate?" he asked.

"Stay in me place, will ye? I has to talk to Reeve, and don't wanna to leave the boyos unguarded."

Nine nodded and climbed into a little niche just above the boulder and settled down to keep watch.

Heading out, Cait Sith Seven took as many shortcuts as possible, but it was still an hour later that he darted into Reeve's office in the ShinRa tower. Whatever hopes he might harbor about his creator getting some sleep died at the sight of Reeve busily tapping away at his computer in his darkened office. Sighing, the animatronic leaped lightly onto the desktop and accused, "Ye were to be resting, lad." Arms crossed over his chest, tail lashing impatiently, Cait tapped one booted foot on a heap of paperwork and tried his best to look sternly at his master. "Keep this up and ye'll be no better off than the **SOLDIER** s, ye ken?"

The smile gracing Reeve's lined face was warm, "I hear you loud and clear, Cait. Have a seat and tell me why you've left them despite my orders."

"Had little choice, I did. I needs to speak with ye on a matter of some concern. Nine be taking my place." He plopped down with little grace on the single uncluttered spot on the worn surface.

Reeve stopped typing and asked tersely, "They're really going to ask Tseng for help?"

"Zack said they would see him in the morning, so I sent the message. Didna include the location, of course." Taking off his dusty crown, he busied himself to brush it clean. "Reeve," the unit said with uncharacteristic reserve, "the lads be losing hope, Kunsel in particular."

Alarmed, Reeve leaned forward and demanded, "What do you mean, Cait?"

The little animatronic took Reeve through as much as he'd heard of the argument between Zack and Kunsel. The retelling made it clear that though he might be just a stuffed, animated toy, he clearly feared for the **SOLDIER** s moral.

Eyes bleak, Reeve wearily rubbed at his temple and turned back to his computer. There was a part of him unsurprised by what Kunsel demanded of Zack. The two of them had seen first-hand what Hojo would do to a test subject, and being that acquainted with his work would make them very determined to stay out of his clutches.

And hadn't Tseng taken just that approach when the **SOLDIER** s were pinned down in the reactor?

"Tifa, Starr and Aerith were the names mentioned, right?" he asked, typing in the first name and praying there would be something in the system.

"Aye. They be braw lassies, risking themselves to help." Curling up, Cait angled himself so he could read the screen. His tail gave an excited lash when the image of an attractive young woman with curious eyes of reddish brown came up.

"This could be her. Tifa Lockhart." He slanted a look at Cait and got a shake of his head in return. The animatronic hadn't met any of the women. Disgruntled, Reeve turned back to the screen. "She's listed as the dependent of a dishonorably discharged infantryman. Age 20, trained in martial arts by Master Zangan. Records indicate she worked as a waitress in a bar located in the Sector 7 slums." Accessing her medical history, he grimaced. From the look of things, Tifa had grown remarkably clumsy since the death of her mother when she was ten. "Classic pattern of abuse, and no flags in the system. Why do so many fall through the cracks?" His question was rhetorical enough that the toy cat didn't try to answer.

Rubbing at his chin this time, he keyed in the second name and got a plethora of hits. Reeve spent some time narrowing the list down to just a couple by age, status and location. Of the two left, he favored an orphan by the name of Starr Sapphire. But when he tried to access her records…

"MIA-PD?" he asked incredulously. "What in the world is such a military term doing attached to a _civilian's_ file?"

Standing up, Cait Sith studied the flicking screen. "MIA-PD - Missing in action, presumed dead. Me wonders who signed that designation."

It took some serious effort to break through the locks on the file without tripping any flags, but Reeve finally got the answer. "Hollander," he spat out.

Cait sat on his haunches, wringing his white gloved hands. "Ai, this complicates things for the laddies."

"And they don't _need_ any more complications right now. I can't get anything else about Starr without seriously endangering myself, so let's try that last one. Aerith, you said? Hope I'm spelling it right."

As soon as he typed the name, a soft chime began to sound. Leaning forward intently, Reeve worked furiously at the keyboard for several long minutes as sweat glimmered on his forehead. When the repetitious chiming finally ceased, he sat back, and was vaguely amused to see his hands were shaking. "Cait, get Tseng. Now, and don't accept any excuses. I think he's in his office because that alert was headed straight for his computer before I managed to cut it off."

Knowing better than to ask for more details, the little black cat leaped down and scampered out the door.

The quick arrival of the Turk attested to the fact he was right where Reeve suspected. "Your unit parked himself outside my office and caterwauled fit to wake the dead, Tuesti. Explain yourself," Tseng ordered sharply, his voice betraying his impatience.

Reeve didn't turn from his contemplation of Midgar as he stood before his office window. His nerves were still a bit frayed from how close he'd come to revealing himself. When he finally spoke, it was a single name. "Aerith." Watching the Turk's reflection in the glass, Reeve found himself smiling grimly as Tseng jolted in shock. "Yes, I thought that might get your attention. Ingenious of you to set an alert to sound if anyone enters her name into the network."

"How do you know of her, Tuesti?" Tseng's expression was hard and uncompromising as he continued, striding forward menacingly, "Tell me what you know or you'll find yourself in a ShinRa holding cell under far less pleasant circumstances."

Turning around to face his visitor, Reeve gestured to the chairs situated in front of his desk and suggested, "Calm yourself, Turk. I don't know anything more than her name right now, and judging from all the blocks programmed into her file, it could be weeks before I figure out how to break through. Apparently she's with the **SOLDIER** s. Cait overheard Zack and Kunsel speaking of her."

An eerie kind of calm seemed to settle around the Turk. "Aerith…" He gave a quiet laugh and waved a hand at Reeve's surprise. "A name from the past returns to haunt me. I know exactly where they're hiding now. How ironic that I didn't think of it before, considering the area where the **SOLDIERs** fell." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Reeve rounded his desk in a bound and managed to grab hold of Tseng's arm. "What do you mean? Who is Aerith? How does she have anything to do this?"

With quiet dignity, Tseng shook himself loose and headed for the door. "I'll explain later, Tuesti." When he reached for the knob, he paused long enough to assure Reeve he meant what he said. "I _will_ tell you more. But right now, the most important thing is to get them out of Midgar. Hojo has convinced Rufus to use his personal troops in the search, and he's flooded Sector 5 in the attempt to ferret them out. The entrance is well hidden, but with that much personnel combing through the area, they will eventually find it. I've got Cissnei standing ready with the chopper in Sector 4."

"You've had all this in place since they fell, haven't you? Even _before_ I asked if you would help them?"

Tseng winced but nodded to confirm Reeve's suspicions. "We'll discuss that as well. Meet me in my office at seven. Bring a Cait Sith unit with you."

And he was out the door before Reeve could hit him with another barrage of questions. The Head of Urban Development had just enough time to signal Cait Sith to follow before Tseng completely disappeared…

 **Roughly an hour later…**

The only sounds within the church were the watery babble of the little stream and quiet breathing. In soft-soled shoes, Tseng made his way further into the room until he stood over the three women sleeping near the flowerbed.

Looking around, he approved of the way the **SOLDIER** s had grouped themselves in front of the tunnel leading outside into Sector 5. Anyone attempting to penetrate the church would have to go right through them first. And it was highly unlikely an adversary would get any further, as their weapons lay close by and ready for action.

Though time was short, he stood for just a moment and breathed in the scent of the lilies. It had been over a decade since their smell had charmed him. Then, ruthlessly suppressing the memories that surged up, he leaned down slightly and studied the females curled beneath their blankets. It amused him that he recognized Aerith immediately. She always did have the look of her mother…

A soft footfall sounded, causing Tseng to whirl around. He mentally cursed at the sight of the toy cat soundlessly picking his way over to stand beside him. Damn Reeve and his silly stuffed animals.

There was no time to warn him to be quiet as Cait carefully pointed out one of the females. "Reeve be right on target. That's Tifa Lockhart."

Wincing, Tseng glanced over at the men and saw that the animatronic, as quietly as he had spoken, had awakened Zack.

Rolling to his feet in a swift, agile move, the black-haired **SOLDIER** came up bearing the Buster Sword, held ready for battle. The glowing near-violet eyes were slitted with suspicion, but he made no other moves and didn't say anything as Tseng warily walked towards him.

"Zack," Tseng said, his voice barely a whisper. "This sector is flooded with troops. You have to leave, right _now_. Cissnei's standing ready to fly you out of here."

And his eyes, his face showed nothing as he grimly asked, "And we should just go with you, no questions asked? No bargaining, no haggling over the details of what this will cost us?"

The tone had Tseng drawing back slightly. It wasn't hostile or even angry; no, it was the resignation within that left him speechless. Zack knew he had no choice but to trust him… and it grated. Beneath the coldly spoken words was disdain.

Tseng flinched. He hadn't expected to feel the loss of their friendship quite so keenly.

Both Kunsel and Cloud were awake now, lying motionless but with their hands resting on the weapons beside them. In the dimness, Cloud's too-blue eyes were blazing with accusations, while Kunsel kept his gaze trained on Zack, awaiting his signal.

Behind Tseng there was a slight rustling and he turned to see Aerith sitting up, rubbing at her eyes. "Zack, did you say something?" she muttered, pushing her hair out of her face. Then she saw Tseng and stiffened, but only for a moment. Rising, she cautiously approached him, eyes locked on his face. She stopped several meters away from him, still studying him intently. "I know you," she finally said, speaking a bit louder.

Tseng was puzzled by her wariness. Where was the fearless toddler he remembered so clearly? "It was a long time ago," he started, surprised to find himself suddenly nervous as her green eyes traveled over him. Some part of him knew she wasn't reacting so mistrustfully because of the suit that said 'Turk'. No, the fear was generated by something more, and it troubled him. Who had -and more importantly _why_ \- put those bruises on her wrists?

A long moment passed before she suddenly cried out, "YOU!" A radiant smile lit up her face as she raced to him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him fiercely. "It was _your_ voice I've heard in my head all these years, telling me about the flowers growing in the church. You showed me where to find the entrance." Leaning back slightly, Aerith said, "You were holding my hand while you pointed out the stained glass window."

Stunned, Tseng ran a shaking hand down her braided hair. "I can't believe you remember that. You were only four at the time I helped… you find the church." Giving himself a shake, he released her and turned to the others. All were awake and looking at him with suspicion. He shrugged off the unpleasant regard and urged, "There's no time to talk now. Gather your things as quickly as you can and follow me." He glanced back to see Zack already bending to help Cloud to his feet.

"We'll be discussing this later, right?" Zack growled out as he starting rolling up his tarp, sleeping bag and blankets all lumped together inside it. A sense of helplessness was growing, smothering the rage trying to flare to life. But he couldn't risk the lives of the others by refusing what he prayed was help.

Tseng could see the war being waged within the **SOLDIER** and gave an inward sigh of relief at not being questioned further. He wasn't even sure of the answers anymore. He gave a slight bow and said carefully, "Should time allow, yes, I'll explain. Hurry now." Squeezing Aerith's hand gently, he waved for her to get a move on even as Tifa and Starr scrambled to gather their belongings.

Shouldering his backpack and goody bag, Kunsel nodded towards the tunnel, grateful for the boulder now concealing the entrance. "I'm starting to hear movement and voices outside." He didn't bother to stow the gunblade gripped so tightly, and noticed that neither Zack nor Cloud had attached their swords to the magnetic studs on their backs.

"The troopers haven't quite located the entrance yet, but it only be a matter of time," Cait Sith piped up. "Nine is still hidden and reporting," he assured Tseng.

"Good." The Turk reached out and hefted one of the remaining packs, slipping his arms through the straps and nodding towards the concealed tunnel to Sector 4. "Be as quiet as you can."

Since so much had been packed beforehand, it took only a few minutes to finish the job. Tseng and Cait Sith led the way, Cloud behind him, followed by the women, then Zack.

As the last one out, Kunsel took a careful look around to make sure there was nothing incriminating left behind. When even his intense study showed nothing amiss, he hurried after the others. And with each step, his heart pounded a little louder.

Were they being saved…

Or betrayed yet again?


End file.
